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Written by Marisa Branco on 12th November, 2014
Last month, October 22, at the State House of Massachusetts in Boston, during the 5th EU-US eHealth Marketplace and Conference, the Trillium Bridge, presented a live demonstration of provider-mediated exchange of patient summaries between EU and US, proving the technical feasibility of the exchange.
Gnomon Informatics SA supported by iUZ and the OpenNCP community worked with the Kaiser Permanent (KP) eHealth Exchange team (the major provider of healthcare services in the United States and the main partner in that country) to create a proof of concept reference implementation of the Trillium Bridge gateway as part of their eHealthPassTM project that is able to exchange clinical patient summaries with the eHealthWay.
The Trillium Bridge project, co-funded by the European Commission, is a transatlantic clinical data exchange mission to establish the foundations of an interoperability bridge for the meaningful exchange of patient summary and electronic health records between the European Union (EU) and United Sates (US).
According with Trillium organisation the project “support action extends the European Patient Summaries (epSOS) and Meaningful Use II, Transitions of Care in the United States to establish an interoperability bridge that will benefit EU and US citizens alike, advancing eHealth innovation and contributing to the triple win: quality care, sustainability and economic growth.”
The Trillium Bridge gateway, an adapted version of the national contact points in EU Member States for the epSOS large scale pilot, was used to search and retrieve in real time, the patient summary in CCD (Continuity of Care Document) of a United States citizen, enrolled in a Kaiser Permanente health plan. The demonstration involved:
EU > US
a patient (Martha): who is from San Diego and had an accident during a trip to Italy where she was taken to the hospital
a fictional Italian doctor (played by Giorgio Cangioli Trillium Bridge project manager): Giorgio, deep in his role of the Italian physician, accessed the patient summary in Italian and wrote a note for patient’s physician back in the States.
Zachary Gillen (interoperability director at Kaiser Permanente) reviewed the information together with Martha once she was back home.
US > EU
a patient (Paolo Cerutti): a European Citizen visiting the US, who suffers from chronic hypertension and lost his new medication while traveling to San Francisco and could not explain the symptoms he was experiencing
Zachary (as a KP Physician) showed that the same functionality can be available for Paolo Cerutti. In Boston, Zachary, successfully retrieved in CCD the patient summary of Paolo and identified his medication.
The demonstration proved that with effective transatlantic collaboration, the EU and the US can set the pace and tone for global standards development and eHealth innovation.
The experience gained and lessons learned will inform the work of IHE profiles XCPD (Cross-Comunity Patient discovery) and XCA (Cross-Comunity Access) and will be continued in pursuit of end-end integration for HIMSS 2015 in Chicago on April 2015.It is also expected to inform the efforts underway toward an international patient summary specification under the auspices of HL7 (Health Level 7), ISO (International Organization for Standardization) , and CEN.
We’ll give you the inroads of this project. Tell us what you think, bellow in the comments.
Written by Ana Castilho on 7th October, 2014
According with one of our latest’s blog post in the next 5-7 years, 50.000 healthcare informatics workers will be needed (U.S. data). However, you may think, what really needs to be done?
KevinMD.com, a social media influencer in healthcare wrote 5 ways health care must improve which lists five issues that must be upgrade in HIT (Health Information Technology):
Technology is (really) changing the healthcare industry, however hospitals/clinics are not communicating and IT systems tend to be hard to learn or far too complex. Therefore, there are much more to improve, although this is a good set to begin with.
We were inspired by KevinMD.com post and made this infographic where you can find a summarize version of the blog post.
Take a look and tell us what you think bellow in the comments.
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Written by Ana Castilho on 1st October, 2014
HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) is a “not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality, safety, cost-effectiveness, and access, through the best use of information technology and management systems” (Source: wikipedia). Every year HIMSS produces a Leadership Survey according with U.S. senior IT executive’s responses, and for the 25th HIMSS Annual Leadership Survey there were 298 valid responses.
MuleSoft, a company that integrates platforms for connecting SaaS and enterprise applications in the cloud and on-premise, created an infographic regarding the collected information from the 25th Leadership Survey mentioned before.
This infographic sums up HIMSS document, where we can see that in U.S.:
• 25% – Are leveraging the latest technology to provide better patient care
• 19% – Companies are integrating new technologies with installed systems
• Patients using telehealth services are expected to reach 7 million in 2018 up from 350.000 in 2013
• 37% – indicated that IT can positively impact patient care by improving clinical and quality outcomes
These statistics reinforces the need to health interoperable systems, for that data can flow freely across clinical and non-clinical devices/systems (Source: MuleSoft blog).
![Connected Healthcare Systems [Infographic]](http://www.iuz.pt/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mulesoft-infographic-healthcare.jpg)
Have something to add? Please, tell us below in the comments.
(image: Phalin Ooi)
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Written by Ana Castilho on 3rd September, 2014
epSOS European Patient – Smart Open Services project was a massive and a key interoperability project for iUZ, as we explained in our business case study. Through this project and some others, we’ve achieved knowledge and experience in the IHE Profiles field.
As we referred, through the epSOS we’ve started to use some IHE Profiles, and we’ve already been to three IHE Connectathons in Europe (Bern – 2012, Istanbul – 2013 and Vienna – 2014), as we explained in this post.
This type of actions gave us the needed experience and background in IHE profiles field, and for that we consider that was time to become an institutional member of IHE International.
But, for those who do not know, what is IHE International?
IHE International – Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise is a U.S. organisation that intends to promote the Health Industry connected to interoperability. IHE aims to improve sharing communication between information systems linked through the creation and development of interoperability standards.
Our membership allows us to contribute in a pro-bono basis, with more than 200 organisations in IHE International. We have associated to the IT Infrastructure Domain, regarding the Technical Committee, where Ivo Pinheiro and Marcelo Fonseca are representing iUZ.
According with IHE, IT Infrastructure (ITI) Domain:
“… addresses the implementation of standards-based interoperability solutions to improve information sharing, workflow and patient care.
This domain, begun in 2003, was originally launched by sponsor Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). In 2008, GIP-DMP (Groupement d’Intérêt Public pour le Dossier Médical Personnel) joined HIMSS to help sponsor this domain adding additional user representation in Europe.
Together they are responsible for development and publication of the IHE IT Infrastructure Technical Framework.“ (Source: IHE – ITI Domain)
Throughout the ITI Committee association, selected by us among a range of 22 other committees, we can have a voice participating in meetings regarding the creation and revise of IHE profiles concerning the domain.
Our work in Interoperability in Healthcare and in IHE Profiles was mainly during epSOS implementation, and subsequently OpenNCP. We have applied the usage of the following profiles:
Tell us your thoughts, below in the comments.
(image: Chris Potter)
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Written by Ana Castilho on 25th August, 2014
Are you a digital doctor or work in the field? If so, do you have a Digital Marketing Strategy? Because, every day medicine is becoming more and more digital and social.
Did you know that, according with the next infographic, 41% patients said, “social media would affect their choice of a specific doctor, hospital, or medical facility”?
Patients, through the Internet and social media, are becoming more aware, when picking a new doctor.
(Click in the image to view the full image)
These are U.S. data, but do you think in Europe is different? Do you have a Healthcare Digital Marketing Strategy?
Share your thoughts with us, below in the comments.
(image by Kokopinto and infographic by JHG Media)
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Written by Ana Castilho on 13th August, 2014
Placing the patient at the centre of care of healthcare.
Is this a trendy topic?
Yes, but it’s becoming a reality. Day by day, is given special attention to this subject that is driving new models of care.
Everybody knows that health information and technology walk hand in hand. The next infographic shows exactly that. T-Systems created the infographic “Better health through better technology”, where we can see the potential that technology can give to the patient, promoting and empowering his quality of life.
The patient, a person that needs medical treatment or someone seeking to improve his quality of life, is at the centre but he always will need other intervenients, such as family, friends, coaches, doctors, healthcare providers, health insurances or hospitals.
According with Mayme Marshall: “The primary goal of medicine should not merely be to improve disease and death rates; the medical community should also be interested in the subjective patient wellbeing and quality of life”. Technology is helping in that field and in this infographic it’s given a few applications.
(click in the image to view full size)
Which apps you think are empowering the patient? Tell us in the comments.
Written by Ana Castilho on 4th August, 2014
Have you heard about Expand Project?
If not, the Expand Project - Expanding Health Data Interoperability Services is being funded by the European Commission Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) within the ICT Policy Support Programme, and is being led by the Portuguese Health Ministry, Shared Services – SPMS.
In a few words, Expand is bridging a selected number of eHealth Projects, like epSOS – Smart Open Services for European Patients to CEF – Connecting Europe Facility (anchored to the Europe 2020 Strategy), in order to deploy large-scale cross-border projects.
The main purpose of the Expand Project intends to support and promote EU Member States in “delivering their local eHealth plans and improving cross-border care” (Source: Expand Project).
As well as epSOS, SemantinHealthNet (SHN), CALLIOPE, eHR4CR, PARENT, e-SENS, and other projects, are being guided by the decisions taken in the eHealth Network (eHN), not forgetting, the Trillium Bridge project and the eHealth Governance Initiative (eHGI).
If you want to know more about Expand Project go to: expandproject.eu
Have you heard about this initiative?
Share your thoughts with us, below in the comments.
(image by Nicolas Raymond)
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Written by Ana Castilho on 29th July, 2014
“50,000 healthcare informatics workers will be needed in the next 5-7 years”
“The Intersection of Healthcare & IT” is an infographic created by the University of Illinois at Chicago and establishes:
Healthcare informatics is a skill that makes medical discoveries more effective and efficient that relates IT, healthcare and suitable business practices.
Take a look at the infographic and tell us what you think, below in the comments.
(click the image to view the full-size)
![Intersection of Healthcare and IT [Infographic]](http://www.iuz.pt/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Intersection-of-Healthcare-and-IT-small.jpg)
Written by Ana Castilho on 1st July, 2014
“72% of adult internet users in the US have looked online for health information in the past year”
At iUZ we want to be active and dynamic in the healthcare IT industry and we manage to research regularly for new resources and knowledge. We found the infographic below, which reports that patients and medical doctors are having a more active role in healthcare.
This infographic was crafted for consumers to understand how functional is becoming the healthcare field and the power and active role that nowadays they can have. In addiction, it is also an era of ‘Digital Doctors’, and as Eric J. Topol said “(…) talking to your phone, that’s the future of medicine”.
We’re developing our mark in health IT in order to be recognised as an enterprise that delivers unpaired solutions for the future.
Take a look at this infographic and share your thoughts in the comments below.
(click in the image to view the full infographic)
(infographic by MDGadvertising)
Written by Ana Castilho on 16th June, 2014
Until 3 July 2014 the European Commission, through Digital Agenda for Europe – DG Connect, has an open Public Consultation on the Green paper on mobile health (source: Green Paper report)
Public Consultation
A Public Consultation is related with the Participatory Democracy, a process that emphasizes:
“(…) broad participation of constituents in the direction and operation of political systems, (…) strives to create opportunities for all members of a population to make meaningful contributions to decision-making and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to such opportunities.” (Source: Wikipedia).
The Public Consultation is an approach of a Participatory Democracy and the European Commission through the DG Connect, gives Europeans forms of participation in decision-making, seeking to understand citizens point-of-views.
Mobile Health or mHealth
According with the World Health Organisation (WHO), mHealth means:
“(…) medical and public health practice supported be mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other wireless devices” (Source: WHO – World Health Organisation – mHealth – New horizons for health through mobile technologies)
Responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes (European Commission Vice-President) (@NeelieKroesEU), also says that:
“mHealth will reduce costly visits to hospitals, help citizens take charge of their own health and wellbeing, and move towards prevention rather than cure. It is also a great opportunity for the booming app economy and for entrepreneurs.
I personally use a sports-band on my wrist to measure how active I am from day to day, so I am a great supporter of mHealth already. Please send us your input into this consultation to help us become global leaders in this fascinating area.” (Source: EU Press Release)
Green Paper on Mobile Health
According with the European Commission (EC), the organisation has launched a public consultation on the Green Paper on Mobile Health, announced in the eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020.
As any Public Consultation, citizens are invited to comment about a certain topic, in this case according with the “barriers and issues related to the use of mobile health including health and wellbeing apps, smart watches etc.” (Source: Digital Agenda)
Citizen’s inputs will help identify procedures to unlock the full power of mHealth in Europe. According with the Green Paper report shared by EC, the commission exposed several fields that are in need to be explored regarding mHealth, such as:
See also the infographic that DG Connect made for the subject:
(Click on the image to view the full size)
How to respond (until 3rd July)?
Results will be known 3 months after the end of the consultation.
Want to know more about this subject? Read the following reports:
Have you or your company responded to the Consultation? Share your thoughts with us, bellow in the comments.
(image: Sebastiaan ter Burg)
