1. European eHealth Trends: expectations, implications and actions Tove Sørensen Project Manager ’eHealth Trends’, Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine eHealth 2006 Conference, Malaga, Spain10-12 May 2006

2. background

3. digital opportunities (D Bogdan and V Gray, ITU, ) Source: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database..

4. digital divide (D Bogdan and V Gray ITU) Source: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database.

5. perceptions

6. Click to get Sick Internet Makes Us Sick Too much Advice Can Be Bad for Your Health Is Cybermedicine killing you?

7. - or part of daily life?

8. eHealth trends: a study of seven European countries Focusing on the “new patients or consumers” and the digital divide in Europe Developing a European survey on eHealth consumer trends, 18 months interval A citizens’ approach –Patients –Patients’ friends and relatives –Citizens in general Co-funded by DG SANCO (2005-2008)

9. seven European countries Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine, University Hospital of North Norway, Norway (NST) Fyns Amt, Danish Centre for Health Telematics, Denmark (Funen) Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Informatik, Germany (IMI) Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Greece (FORTH) Health Promotion State Agency, Latvia (HPSA) Wroclaw Medical University, Poland (Wroclaw) Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal (Aveiro)

10. objectives Assess peoples’ current use of Internet- based services for health purposes Assess peoples’ attitudes to the use of Internet-based services for health purposes Assess peoples’ expectations with regard to eHealth services from their family doctors

11. three dimensions SPACE: Examine if there is a difference in the population’s use of, their attitudes and needs of eHealth accross Europe TIME: Examine if and to what degree the findings change through the study period ACCESS: Relate the findings concerning the above mentioned objectives to peoples’ degree of Internet access

12. method Survey conducted by telephone interviews on a representative sample of the population Same questionnaire at the same time, week 40-45 in 2005 Optional country specific questions. Maximum total length: 15 min 2 nd survey planned in spring 2007

13. research area Internet access and frequency Sources of information about health and illness Purpose or areas of use Impacts Importance Expectations towards health care sector

14. what do we find? General Internet use and searching for health information follow the same geographical distribution Searching for health information is most common Today, the Internet seems to be a supplement – not a replacement for f-t-f health services

15. case Norway

16. daily Internet use, Norway 2005

17. who are the typical users? General Internet use (2005) Young men Well educated with good income Living in urban areas Internet for health purposes Young women White collar

18. Norwegian trends – health information on the Internet

19. impacts N=1007

20. when choosing a doctor

21. Norwegian – trends 2001-2005 Use of Internet for health purposes is increasing (as is Internet use in general) Still, doctors and other health care professionals are the No1 channel for health information Citizens would like doctors who offer eHealth services

22. information-implication-action

23. action on different levels Individuals: citizens in general, patients, next of kin and health professionals Organisations: (e)health providers, patient-organisations, unions, academia Systems: Policy-makers, public health systems

24. concluding remarks acknowledge information access as a resource, not a threat recognise new research agenda decrease the e-gap in the population look back, catch up, think future

25. a part of daily life

26. thank you for your attention project web-site: www.telemed.no/eHealthTrends tove.sorensen@telemed.no

27. welcome to Tromsø 12-14 June 2006