Accreditationand Quality Labelling
of EHRs in EuropeThe role of ProRec centresand the EUROREC Institute
Dr. François MENNERATSecretary General
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Fostering a harmonised implementation of high quality EHR systems
• Requires promotion, awareness and educational actions
• useful results of the PROREC initiative– a Support Action in the 4th Framework Programme– following the recommendations of the MEDIREC
Concerted Action of the 3rd Framework Programme• focusing on the promotion strategy for high quality
EHRs• the implementation of a quality labelling process has
always been an explicit part of the mission assigned to the national ProRec centres
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Promotion strategy for high quality
European Health Records
"ProRec" stands for
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• Registered non-for-profit organisations
• Established at the national level
• Gathering in a balanced way
– solution providers
– users
• Developing contacts with all other stakeholders (public authorities, etc.)
ProRec centres
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EstablishedSetting upMature contactsFirst contacts
The network of ProRec centres
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Fostering a harmonised implementation of high quality EHR systems
• In a second phase, the issue has been leveraged at EU level through the creation of the EuroRec Institute
• formed as a consequence of the WIDENET project– an Accompanying Measure under the 5th
Framework Programme
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The EuroRec Institute
• The European Institute for Health Records
• A non-for-profit organisation
• Founded in 2002 by the first four ProRec centres
(Belgium, Spain, France, and Bulgaria)
• Developing activities at the European level
(principle of subsidiarity)
• Bound to become self-sustainable
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Fostering a harmonised implementation of high quality EHR systems
• In a third phase, the EuroRec Institute now aims at becoming one of the major players in the world for certification of EHR systems
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Definitions
• electronic health record (EHR)– repository of information regarding the health of a
subject of care, in computer processable form
ISO TR 20514:2004 "Health Informatics - EHR Definition, Scope, & Context"
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Definitions
• EHR system– set of components that form the mechanism by
which electronic health records are created, used, stored, and retrieved
• Note:It includes people, data, rules and procedures, processing and storage devices, and communication and support facilities.
ISO TR 20514:2004 "Health Informatics - EHR Definition, Scope, & Context"
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• sets ambitious objectives to further deploy efficient eHealth systems at a national and regional level
• High quality Electronic Health Record systems (EHRs) acknowledged as a key to efficient eHealth services
The e-Europe Action plan
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• by helping the customers– i.e. the end users, the purchasers, and the
decision makers• find the relevant suppliers to fulfil their
expectations• by offering them access to an information
– relevant– neutral, honest, based on explicit criteria– up-to-date
A need to comfort the market
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• Several Member States have initiated accreditation schemes for eHealth systems– Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, the
Netherlands, etc. • EHR systems a corner stone for eHealth
systems
Existing national initiatives
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• These EHRs quality labelling and certification schemes differ– in their scope– by the legal framework under which they operate– in their policies– in their organisation– in the choice of quality conformance criteria for
benchmarking– in their testing procedures– etc.
Existing national initiatives
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• to be countered by harmonisation efforts as soon as possible
• Therefore an urgent need to build on the work achieved so far
• and launch a European system for quality labelling and certification of EHR systems
A risk of further fragmenting the market
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• General objective
– create an efficient, credible and sustainable mechanism
• Core objectives– define a Model with harmonised guidelines and
procedures
– incorporate the formal test plans into a Benchmarking Process Manual
Quality labelling and certification of EHR Systems in Europe
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• Fully worked out Business Plan
• State of the Art Report on existing EHRs Certification schemes
• Labelling Terminology and Functional Profiles for classification of EHRs to be certified; Model Certification Guidelines and Procedures
• Benchmarking Services Manual for EHRs Quality Labelling and Certification
• Inventory of Resources for EHR Interoperability– registers of Quality Conformance Criteria, EHR-Archetypes,
XML schemes, Health Coding Systems, and relevant EHR Standards
Quality labelling and certification of EHR Systems in Europe
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General principles
• Apply the "subsidiarity principle"• Build on national experiences (Belgium, Ireland, etc.)• Involve heavily national ProRec centres (and other
contributors)• Support new national initiatives• European co-ordination• Feasibility study granted by DG -Entr (about to start)• Further support from the European Commission (DG-
Entr, and DG-InfSo)
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– The EuroRec Institute is the overarching network of national ProRec centres
– Its main mission being to promote high quality Electronic Health Record systems (EHRs) throughout Europe
• The EuroRec Institute will act as the co-ordinator of the process for quality labelling and certification
• The network of ProRec centres, wherein a wide variety of stakeholders are involved, will serve as an operational platform
Organisational pattern
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• Co-ordination with healthcare authorities through a collaboration with the eHealth ERA consortiumand its European Health Care Authorities (HCA) / Ministries groups
• Both platforms (EuroRec and eHealth ERA) will assure the necessary bottom-up and top-down approaches for the adequate assessment of needs and for the optimal choice of methods
Organisational pattern
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Conclusion
• The EuroRec Institute is now waiting for the green light
• The process is expected to start this year• All stakeholders are already invited to
prepare their useful contributions
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As well as for your questions!
Thank you for your
attention…