There is an obvious need to reduce the incidence of avoidable deaths due to medical interventions, adverse drug effects and preventable injuries. In the NHS there almost a million patient safety incidents, and potentially up to tens of thousands of deaths (although the precice number is unknown), around 50% of these incidents could have been avoided if lessons from previous incidents had been learnt.^[1] Obviously IT can’t do anything about falls however accessible medical records can bring important gains in terms of access (facilitating information for patients and health professionals, improving contacts with health professionals, and avoiding unnecessary transportation), and quality (making pertinent medical information available for prevention and diagnosis.^[2].

1. ^ Executive Summary, A Safer Place for Patients: learning to improve patient safety, National Audit Office, 3rd November 2005, http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0506/a_safer_place_for_patients.aspx?alreadysearchfor=yes
2. ^ Connected Health Quality and Safety for European Citizens, Unit ICT for Health, 2006, p.16 http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/docs/policy/interoperability_report_final092006-cover.pdf

There is the beginning of a Europe wide free market for healthcare. Under EU schemes for health patients will be able to travel abroad for treatment, those who go to the Continent are to retain their full status as NHS patients - allowing them to keep their place in queues for physiotherapy and other recuperative care. Androula Vassiliou, the Health Commissioner, says “Patients will be able to receive treatment in any member state, which will be reimbursed at home up to the level of the same or similar treatment in their health system... Patients from any country will enjoy equal treatment with the nationals of the country in which they are being treated and cannot be discriminated against... It will allow excessive demand from one country to be met by excessive capacity in another country. This is the essence of the cooperation.”^[1] This would mean a lot of travel for medical treatment; obviously records etc would have to go too, and may lead to more than one health service having need for records. This would be made much simpler if the records were already available everywhere.

1. ^ David Charter, Brussels offers NSH patients Europe wide treatment, The Times, 3rd July 2008, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article4255880.ece

Europe's population is ageing, since Citizens aged 65 and over account for 30% to 40% of healthcare spending—far more than any other population group and this group are increasingly likely to retire to another country or spend extended periods travelling so are becoming more likely to be injured or taken ill while within another EU state.^[1] This is creating a rapidly rising demand for healthcare, particularly away from the home country of a patient. At the same time there is greater movement within the EU for commerce, recreation and study. Also citizens and patients are demanding healthier lifestyles in combination with the provision of better, higher quality healthcare that still has to be economic as it is paid for by the taxpayer.

1. ^ Affordability and Sustainable Healthcare in Europe, European Generic Medicines Association, http://www.egagenerics.com/gen-economics.htm