Baltic eHealth- empowering regional development in the Baltic Sea Region

Henning VossDanish Centre for Health Telematics

Baltic IT&IRiga April 2006

Benefits of cross-border telemedicine

• Mobility:

– Travelling patients

– Move the data – not the patient

• Improved access to more specialized healthcare

• Avoid bottlenecks

• Avoid doctors migration

Barriers to telemedicine

• Technical Interoperability

• Reimbursement not settled

• Legal issues

• Cultural and linguistic differences

Interoperability

We need:

1) Standards, terminology and semantic consensus

2) Network and security

Standards and semantic consensus in Denmark

Network and security inDenmark

• Internet-based

• Any data type

• From push to pull:

Receiver in charge

Patients access own data

Network and Security in the BSR- one step towards interoperability

Sweden

Norway

Vilnius

TallinnDenmark

BHN

???

The Baltic Health Data Network

Tools on the network

• Service Portal (yellow pages)

• Videoconferencing broker

• Collaboration Platform & Structured Reporting

Tool

• Common PACS archive for hospitals (??)

• Telemedicine broker (??)

Guidelines

• Legal

• Reimbursement

• Organisational

• Cultural / linguistic

eUltrasound

• Classical Second opinion approach:

• Mid-wives and doctors in Västerbotten

• The Norwegian Centre for Fetal Medicine

• First step – off-line consultation

• Second step – on-line consultation

eRadiology

• Lack of Radiologists in Funen hospital

Waiting lists and traveling to other hospitals.

• Solution:

• Images are taken in Funen

• Reports are made in Vilnius and Tallinn

• Start with conventional radiology

• Multi-lingual standardized reporting schemes

• Goal: From pilot to production (incl. business model)

Structured Reporting Tool

Acceptance of cross border remote reporting

A: If I can get a faster treatment in Denmark, it is all right if a doctor in a foreign country does the reading of my X-rays

B: ”I do not feel comfortable with having a doctor in a foreign country read my X-rays”

72 % agreed in statement A => high acceptance(n = 1988, Danish telephone survey, oct. 2005)

Initial Results

• Legal issues report• BHN is established• Collaboration platform• Structured Reporting Tool• Service Portal• Reports on financial, cultural and technical

issues (before summer)

Implications for potential medical users

• Solves interoperability problem

• Addresses other eHealth problems

• Demonstrates patient mobility

Discussion

• If successful the BHN could be the model for an European-wide secure and interoperable infrastructure.

Partners

Facts:• Ten partners

• Five countries

• Start: 2004

• End: 2007

• Budget: 2 M€

Thank you for your attention !

More Info:

Henning Voss: hvo@cfst.dk

website: www.Baltic-eHealth.org

Baltic eHealth is co-financed by the BSR Interreg III B programme