World Health Systems Facts currently has sections on the US and sixteen other OECD nations. The links below lead directly to national sections on Information and Communication Technologies:
“Information and communication technologies (ICTs) embody all digital technologies that support the electronic capture, storage, processing, and exchange of information in order to promote health, prevent illness, treat disease, manage chronic illness, and so on [1, 2]. In the health sector, ICTs refer to a set of projects or services that allow for remote care (telehealth), interdisciplinary clinical support, as well as knowledge transfer [3]. The use of ICTs has the potential to promote patient-centered healthcare at a lower cost, improve quality of care and information sharing, educate health professionals and patients, encourage a new form of relationship between patients and their health providers, reduce travel time, etc. [1, 4, 5]. Despite these well-known advantages, the implementation of ICTs in practice remains difficult and involves changes at different levels, including with respect to patients, healthcare providers, and healthcare organizations [6].”
Source: Rouleau G, Gagnon MP, Côté J. Impacts of information and communication technologies on nursing care: an overview of systematic reviews (protocol). Syst Rev. 2015;4:75. Published 2015 May 23. doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0062-y
“Data protection and privacy laws related to health information can be applied at the national (federal) level, as in Austria, Finland, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia, or the UK. Other federalized countries such as Australia, Canada and the US have a complicated ecosystem of national and regional/state laws. How these interact (and supplement or complement each other) varies, depending on the nature of the separation of responsibilities across these administrative levels. In Australia there is a range of entities responsible for datasets at each level of government, with no overarching health data governance framework. However, the 2020–2025 National Health Reform Agreement includes a vision to introduce a national approach to data governance, structures, and processes.”
Source: Panteli D, Polin K, Webb E, Allin S, Barnes A, Degelsegger-Márquez A, Ghafur S, Jamieson M, Kim Y, Litvinova Y, Nimptsch U, Parkkinen M, Rasmussen TA, Reichebner C, Röttger J, Rumball-Smith J, Scarpetti G, Seidler AL, Seppänen J, Smith M, Snell M, Stanimirovic D, Verheij R, Zaletel M, Busse R. Health and Care Data: Approaches to data linkage for evidence-informed policy. Health Systems in Transition, 2023; 25(2): pp. i–213.
“Electronic health records, or applications that allow patients and providers to access all health-related information in a coherent way, are a key element in the implementation of eHealth in many countries. Denmark is the best example among the countries in this review. Through the underlying health data network, which contains health and healthcare information from all service providers (see Figure 2.1), patients can access their data on Sundhed. dk. Sweden has a system that is similar in principle, but technically different with a comparatively more limited implementation (Davoody et al., 2019). The primary purposes of such systems are to improve the coordination of care and to increase transparency for patients, not least to promote their empowerment. Regular access to the data is available to the patients themselves and to the service providers. Slovenia already has envisioned the use of data for research purposes in its zVEM Portal, which operates as an expanded electronic health record, providing secure access to all eHealth services. While patients and healthcare providers have access to original data, others, including health authorities and researchers, may access specific data in accordance with their legal basis and project approval.
“In recent years some countries included in this review have introduced the implementation of electronic patient records, which could potentially create new datasets for research. In Australia and Austria patients have the option to opt out of using electronic records altogether, or to exclude certain information from being stored in the file or from being visible/accessible to certain providers (see Table 6.1). In Australia patients are additionally informed when a service provider accesses their file. My Health Record data can be used for research purposes, provided patients have not objected to the use of their data for research (using an opt-out system). Although the Austrian model initially foresaw a similar clause for research use, the political will to implement it is said to have been lacking. It is obvious that depending on how many and which patients decide for or against the use of such applications, and in accordance with the precise design options for access rights, the completeness and representativeness of the data could be significantly limited.”
Source: Panteli D, Polin K, Webb E, Allin S, Barnes A, Degelsegger-Márquez A, Ghafur S, Jamieson M, Kim Y, Litvinova Y, Nimptsch U, Parkkinen M, Rasmussen TA, Reichebner C, Röttger J, Rumball-Smith J, Scarpetti G, Seidler AL, Seppänen J, Smith M, Snell M, Stanimirovic D, Verheij R, Zaletel M, Busse R. Health and Care Data: Approaches to data linkage for evidence-informed policy. Health Systems in Transition, 2023; 25(2): pp. i–213.
“Privacy and data protection are two separate but related rights, both considered vital to a sustainable and well-fortified democracy. They are instrumental in preserving and promoting other fundamental values and rights, like freedom of speech and most countries have legally recognized the right to privacy, either constitutionally or through legislative action (European Data Protection Supervisor, 2020). Privacy is also a recognized human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR; Article 12), the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR; Article 8) (European Court of Human Rights (2021), and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (ECFR; Article 7) (Box 7.1). All countries in this review are legally bound to the UDHR, while those in the EU are also beholden to the ECHR and ECFR. The concept of data protection derives from the right to privacy, operationalizing and implementing that right in a regulatory context. As such, data protection deals with safeguarding information relating to an identifiable person as well as its accessibility for said person; that is, information that could be leveraged to infringe on a person’s right to privacy. Over time, it has also evolved into a right itself; for example, the ECFR includes an explicit right to the protection of personal data (Article 8).”
Source: Panteli D, Polin K, Webb E, Allin S, Barnes A, Degelsegger-Márquez A, Ghafur S, Jamieson M, Kim Y, Litvinova Y, Nimptsch U, Parkkinen M, Rasmussen TA, Reichebner C, Röttger J, Rumball-Smith J, Scarpetti G, Seidler AL, Seppänen J, Smith M, Snell M, Stanimirovic D, Verheij R, Zaletel M, Busse R. Health and Care Data: Approaches to data linkage for evidence-informed policy. Health Systems in Transition, 2023; 25(2): pp. i–213.
“Information and communication technologies (ICTs) embody all digital technologies that support the electronic capture, storage, processing, and exchange of information in order to promote health, prevent illness, treat disease, manage chronic illness, and so on [1, 2]. In the health sector, ICTs refer to a set of projects or services that allow for remote care (telehealth), interdisciplinary clinical support, as well as knowledge transfer [3]. The use of ICTs has the potential to promote patient-centered healthcare at a lower cost, improve quality of care and information sharing, educate health professionals and patients, encourage a new form of relationship between patients and their health providers, reduce travel time, etc. [1, 4, 5]. Despite these well-known advantages, the implementation of ICTs in practice remains difficult and involves changes at different levels, including with respect to patients, healthcare providers, and healthcare organizations [6].”
Source: Rouleau G, Gagnon MP, Côté J. Impacts of information and communication technologies on nursing care: an overview of systematic reviews (protocol). Syst Rev. 2015;4:75. Published 2015 May 23. doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0062-y
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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.
Page last updated September 25, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.
