Name of the project and Sub-Objective of the PEOPLE project ICMed E-health & independence (SO2)

The project The main objectives of this project are the exchange in real time of medical information between health care providers and, as a second objective, the empowering of patients, enabling real time access to their own health care record. The ICMed database covers currently the electronic health record for over 50% of citizens in Timis county and over 60% of Arad county, more than 600 health care providers throughout Romania, mostly from Western Romania, using the system. Zonation and, partly, microzonation information for both counties is linked with the electronic health record.

Objectives of the project Development of a coordinated and integrated medical IT system to share health care records and medical information in real time between individual health care providers and including the patient in the information loop. Empowering patients and enabling real time access to their own electronic health care record; Interconnecting health care providers and enabling pan-regional and multi-language access to critical medical information; Implementing appropriate mechanisms for authentication and security; Developing a coordinated system to share health information in case of major emergencies or natural disasters (like flooding) and inclusion of zonation and microzonation information in the system.

Beneficiaries (involved & concerned) Citizens and patients. Health care providers. Regional government bodies. Over 50% of county's citizen.

Results of the project The ICMed integrated medical information system implements the unique electronic health record, currently having a coverage of over 50% of citizens in Timis county and over 60% of Arad county. The system is used by more than 600 health care providers throughout Romania, mostly from Western Romania. Further, the privately developed health eCard empowers patients to access their electronic health record and fosters the communication between patients and health care providers, including emergency access to critical medical information. Zonation and microzonation information for both counties is linked with the electronic health record, enabling assessment of health care needs in a region, e.g. in case of a natural disaster.

Strengths of the project Enabling cooperation between health care providers and patients and facilitating interchange of medical information. Empowering patients. Powerful tools for analysing health care requirements in a given region and over a given time. Coupling the medical information with health risk factors and other information, like environment factors.

Problems occurred Legislation hampering a paper-free health care system. Frequent changes in the national health care legislation, e.g. regarding reporting medical services.

Conclusions (for the future) Improving the coverage to near 100% in Western Romania and extending the system to all health care providers. Extending the system to even more advanced patient-specific requirements and extending rights for these patients. Increasing the granularity of the microzonation up to street level and building level.

Continuation of the project ICMed is a commercial project and is auto-financing itself through a subscription by health care providers and individual citizens (for eCards). Currently, over 2 million people in Romania are covered by the system.

Replication of the project ICMed has user interfaces both in Romanian, Hungarian and German, and also allows automatic translation of medical information in English, permitting access throughout European health care providers.