eHealth
eHealth is an overarching term used today to describe the application
of information and communications technologies in the health sector.
It encompasses a whole range of purposes from purely administrative
through to health care delivery. For example:
-
within the hospital care setting, eHealth refers to electronic
patient administration systems; laboratory and radiology information
systems; electronic messaging systems; and, telemedicine -- teleconsults,
telepathology, and teledermatology, to name a few
-
within the home care setting, examples include teleconsults and
remote vital signs monitoring systems used for diabetes medicine,
asthma monitoring and home dialysis systems
-
within the primary care setting, eHealth can refer to the use
of computer systems by general practitioners and pharmacists for
patient management, medical records and electronic prescribing.
A fundamental building block of all these applications is the Electronic
Health Record, which allows the sharing of necessary information
between care providers across medical disciplines and institutions.
Other important uses of eHealth are found in the areas of continuous
medical education and public health awareness and education.
eHealth is an essential element of health care renewal: its application
to Canada's health care system will result in benefits to Canadians
through improvements in system accessibility, quality and efficiency.
The Government of Canada has been making investments in this area
since the 1997 Federal Budget, including federal commitments towards
First Ministers Agreements (September 2000 and 2003). A key factor
in the success of the Government's work is its strong commitment
to collaboration.
Health Canada's current priorities and efforts focus on addressing
policy issues and challenges in mainstreaming eHealth services within
Canada's health care system and in measuring progress in the deployment
and investment of these services.
In this section, you'll find a virtual clearinghouse of information
resources on the topic of eHealth.
|