European Union leads way on e-health, but obstacles remain

The European Union is leading the world in the development of new technology in health care, such as electronic patient records and telemedicine, but serious political, legal, and practical obstacles to its wider use remain. This is among the preliminary findings of a study conducted for the European Commission.

The study, which is due to be formally launched next month, notes that overall there is strong momentum behind the planning and implementation of national and regional e-health infrastructure. But responsibility for e-health strategies in EU member states is not uniform. In most countries this responsibility lies largely …