Information Infrastructures Within European Health Care

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. The book aims to be a resource for those interested in planning and implementing large-scale information infrastructures for novel electronic services in health care. The focus of this book is on the pivotal role of the installed base (i.e. the already existing elements of an infrastructure) for ensuing infrastructural development. The book presents rich empirical cases on the design, development and implementation of core infrastructural components (e-prescription and public patient-oriented web platforms) in different national settings across Europe. Therefore, this is a book in which theoretical insights and practical experiences are tightly connected. Contributions have been sourced from a network of academics that have been working on the topic for years, and who have previously collaborated and shared a common understanding of the challenges entailed in expanding information infrastructures within healthcare. The book aims to become a reference for those seeking theoretical and empirical insights for conceptualizing and steering the evolution of information infrastructures in healthcare. The two types of systems (e-prescription and public patient-oriented web platforms) have been selected because they are widespread across Europe, because they invite comparisons, and because they are exemplary of two different types of aims. E-prescription initiatives are usually seen as opportunities to improve healthcare delivery by systematic and not dramatic change. Public patient-oriented web platforms are seen as opportunities to pursue wider and more radical innovation. This book targets researchers, practitioners and students who would benefit from a book providing a comprehensive view to contemporary approaches for the design and deployment of large-scale, inter-organizational systems within healthcare.

Explores the challenges regarding risks and risk management related to the growing complexity of ICT solutions. This book draws upon theories of risk society and reflexive modernization, and uses various case studies to demonstrate efforts aimed at controlling and managing the complexities of various ICT solutions.

This book marks an important contribution to the fascinating debate on the role that information infrastructures and boundary objects play in contemporary life, bringing to the fore the concern of how cooperation across different groups is enabled, but also constrained, by the material and immaterial objects connecting them. As such, the book itself is situated at the crossroads of various paths and genealogies, all focusing on the problem of the intersection between different levels of scale throughout devices, networks, and society. Information infrastructures allow, facilitate, mediate, saturate and influence people’s material and immaterial surroundings. They are often shaped and intertwined with networks of relations and distributed agency, sometimes enabling the existence of such networks, and being, in turn, produced by them. Such infrastructures are not static and immobile in time and space: rather, they require maintenance and repair, which becomes an important aspect of their use. They also define and cross more or less visible boundaries, shape and act as ecologies, and constitute themselves as multiple entities. The various chapters of this edited book question the role of information infrastructures in various settings from both a theoretical and an empirical viewpoint, reflecting the contributors’ interests in science and technology studies, organization studies, and information science, as well as mobilities and media studies.

Modern critical infrastructures can be considered as large scale Cyber Physical Systems (CPS). Therefore, when designing, implementing, and operating systems for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), the boundaries between physical security and cybersecurity are blurred. Emerging systems for Critical Infrastructures Security and Protection must therefore consider integrated approaches that emphasize the interplay between cybersecurity and physical security techniques. Hence, there is a need for a new type of integrated security intelligence i.e., Cyber-Physical Threat Intelligence (CPTI). This book presents novel solutions for integrated Cyber-Physical Threat Intelligence for infrastructures in various sectors, such as Industrial Sites and Plants, Air Transport, Gas, Healthcare, and Finance. The solutions rely on novel methods and technologies, such as integrated modelling for cyber-physical systems, novel reliance indicators, and data driven approaches including BigData analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Some of the presented approaches are sector agnostic i.e., applicable to different sectors with a fair customization effort. Nevertheless, the book presents also peculiar challenges of specific sectors and how they can be addressed. The presented solutions consider the European policy context for Security, Cyber security, and Critical Infrastructure protection, as laid out by the European Commission (EC) to support its Member States to protect and ensure the resilience of their critical infrastructures. Most of the co-authors and contributors are from European Research and Technology Organizations, as well as from European Critical Infrastructure Operators. Hence, the presented solutions respect the European approach to CIP, as reflected in the pillars of the European policy framework. The latter includes for example the Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS Directive), the Directive on protecting European Critical Infrastructures, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Cybersecurity Act Regulation. The sector specific solutions that are described in the book have been developed and validated in the scope of several European Commission (EC) co-funded projects on Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP), which focus on the listed sectors. Overall, the book illustrates a rich set of systems, technologies, and applications that critical infrastructure operators could consult to shape their future strategies. It also provides a catalogue of CPTI case studies in different sectors, which could be useful for security consultants and practitioners as well.

Discover How Electronic Health Records Are Built to Drive the Next Generation of Healthcare Delivery The increased role of IT in the healthcare sector has led to the coining of a new phrase "health informatics," which deals with the use of IT for better healthcare services. Health informatics applications often involve maintaining the health records of individuals, in digital form, which is referred to as an Electronic Health Record (EHR). Building and implementing an EHR infrastructure requires an understanding of healthcare standards, coding systems, and frameworks. This book provides an overview of different health informatics resources and artifacts that underlie the design and development of interoperable healthcare systems and applications. Electronic Health Record: Standards, Coding Systems, Frameworks, and Infrastructures compiles, for the first time, study and analysis results that EHR professionals previously had to gather from multiple sources. It benefits readers by giving them an understanding of what roles a particular healthcare standard, code, or framework plays in EHR design and overall IT-enabled healthcare services along with the issues involved. This book on Electronic Health Record: Offers the most comprehensive coverage of available EHR Standards including ISO, European Union Standards, and national initiatives by Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and many others Provides assessment of existing standards Includes a glossary of frequently used terms in the area of EHR Contains numerous diagrams and illustrations to facilitate comprehension Discusses security and reliability of data

This open access volume focuses on the development of a P5 eHealth, or better, a methodological resource for developing the health technologies of the future, based on patients’ personal characteristics and needs as the fundamental guidelines for design. It provides practical guidelines and evidence based examples on how to design, implement, use and elevate new technologies for healthcare to support the management of incurable, chronic conditions. The volume further discusses the criticalities of eHealth, why it is difficult to employ eHealth from an organizational point of view or why patients do not always accept the technology, and how eHealth interventions can be improved in the future. By dealing with the state-of-the-art in eHealth technologies, this volume is of great interest to researchers in the field of physical and mental healthcare, psychologists, stakeholders and policymakers as well as technology developers working in the healthcare sector.

How are public health services in Europe organized and financed? With European health systems facing a plethora of challenges that can be addressed through public health interventions there is renewed interest in strengthening public health services. Yet there are enormous gaps in our knowledge. How many people work in public health? How much money is spent on public health? What does it actually achieve? None of these questions can be answered easily. This volume brings together current knowledge on the organization and financing of public health services in Europe. It is based on country reports on the organization and financing of public health services in nine European countries and an in-depth analysis of the involvement of public health services in addressing three contemporary public health challenges (alcohol obesity and antimicrobial resistance). The focus is on four core dimensions of public health services: organization financing the public health workforce and quality assurance. The questions the volume seeks to answer are: o How are public health services in Europe organized? Are there good practices that can be emulated? What policy options are available? o How much is spent on public health services? Where do resources come from? And what was the impact of the economic crisis? o What do we know about the public health workforce? How can it be strengthened? o How is the quality of public health services being assured? What should quality assurance systems for public health services look like? This study is the result of close collaboration between the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the WHO Regional Office for Europe Division of Health Systems and Public Health. It accompanies two other Observatory publications: Organization and financing of public health services in Europe: country reports and The role of public health organizations in addressing public health problems in Europe: the case of obesity alcohol and antimicrobial resistance.

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.