Co-operative Health Information Networks in Europe: Experiences from Greece and Scotland

Abstract

BackgroundInternet technology is transforming the general approach to communication and dissemination of information in the field of healthcare. However, it is also creating problems in terms of finding information, and knowing what credibility to place on the information found. The chaotic nature of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the simplistic approach adopted by search engines can make the task of finding relevant information difficult, and the user can waste considerable amounts of time on the process. Even when information is found, there is no general quality assurance process that can guarantee the credibility of the resulting information.ObjectiveThe aim of this research was to develop an approach for establishing co-operative health information networks (CHINs) with different focuses, which can be used in different parts of Europe. The resulting CHINs would provide organised healthcare information and support comprehensive and integrated sets of healthcare telematic services for a broad range of users. Such developments would reduce the difficulties of finding information and knowing what credibility to ascribe to it.MethodsA common approach has been developed based on drawing together contributions from the major healthcare service providers in the region. Standard structures are recommended so that information is presented in a uniform way. Appropriate mechanisms ensure adequate security and a level of quality assurance for the end user.ResultsSince 1996, CHINs have been developed in six European countries as part of a European Union (EU) project. This paper presents the overall approach adopted, and the achievements in two different regions of Europe (Greece and Scotland). Although the circumstances in these two regions are very different, in both cases the resulting CHIN has proved successful.ConclusionsCHINs offer a solution to the difficulty of finding relevant health information on the Internet and guaranteeing its credibility. They can be used in different ways in different regions, and have major benefits for both information providers and end users.

An Ontology of Quality Initiatives and a Model for Decentralized, Collaborative Quality Management on the (Semantic) World Wide Web

“…The common, overarching aim of any quality initiative is the desire to "help people, patients and professionals to identify health information useful to them" [10]. As the Risk and Dzenowagis review shows, there is a lack of reliable and valid tools that can be used by consumers or professionals to locate trustworthy health information.…”

“…We have previously attempted to draw together these players for an initial workshop in Heidelberg to agree on some building blocks for a core vocabulary and ontology that can be used on a Semantic Web [20], and a second workshop will be hosted in 2002. We formerly called this (informal and loosely organized) community "Collaboration for Critical Appraisal of Health Information on the Internet" [9] and now refer to it as the "Heidelberg Collaboration" [10,18]. There is no need for political wrangling and wrestling among organizations about under whose umbrella a collaboration should take place and who should take the lead in the hierarchy - a hierarchy doesn't exist on the Web.…”

Enhancing electronic medical record retrieval through semantic query expansion

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Learning to handle negated language in medical records search

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