The European Commission is predicting that ehealth—the integration of the internet into health care—will be commonplace by the end of the decade for health professionals, patients, and the general public. This prediction is outlined in a new report released at the beginning of the month.
The report examines the extent to which information and communication technologies are being used to deliver better quality health care across Europe. It contains an action plan that ranges from the development of electronic prescriptions and computerised health records to agreement on standardised European qualifications and exchange of best practice.
Presenting the report, Erkki Liikanen, the Enterprise and Information Society's commissioner, said: “The challenges facing health care in Europe today require a bold response. The greater use of technologies and services, such as the internet, as a partner in improving health care must be encouraged.”
The study confirms that ehealth is emerging as the new industry in the public health sector—with a turnover of €11bn (£7.3bn; $13.1bn)—alongside pharmaceuticals and medical devices. By 2010, it is estimated that spending on ehealth in the 25 member European Union could amount to 5% of the total of national health budgets—a considerable increase on the 1% recorded four years ago.
A 2002 Eurobarometer survey for the EU Commission found that 78% of GPs in the union were on line—a figure that rose to 98% in Sweden and 97% in the United Kingdom.
e-Health—Making Healthcare Better for European Citizens: An Action Plan for a European e-Health Area, COM (2004) 356 is available at www.europa.eu.int/information_society/qualif/health/index_en.htm