2.1 European Perspectives

The European Commission has set the goal of moving towards a “European eHealth Area”. Hence the European Union promotes transnational co-operation between national health systems and stimulates the further development of integrated structures. In particular, advancement in the transnational use of eHealth solutions is aimed at: “eHealth will open the door to more easily accessible and better quality health care. It can reduce errors, speed up treatment and offer important cost savings.” the Commission of the European Communities.

The citizens move today more and more across the borders. Generally in Europe the citizens are travelling for business and tourist purposes. People live abroad for longer time to study on foreign universities, for long time job missions or to spend wintertime at the Mediterranean area as a Nordic pensions. Health care has to adapt to the rising mobility of citizens. At the same time the progress in health care and medical technology lead to higher specialisation and increasing costs for medical staff and equipment.

Thus the "eHealth for Regions" network aims at sharing knowledge and resources to benefit from higher accessibility, cost-efficiency and quality in health care.

If you have any comments to this chapter please contact Thorsten Beck, AOK Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. E-Mail: thorsten.beck@sh.aok.de