EAHP survey on status of hospital pharmacy specialisation in the Europe

Preliminary results

European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) surveyed its members at the beginning of the year 2010, on the status of the specialization in hospital pharmacy in their country.

Out of the 27 questions asked, the most important were:

* Is there a hospital pharmacists’ specialization exactly called “Specialization in hospital pharmacy” or such a specialization under a different name?

* Are there other specialist qualifications suitable for hospital pharmacists?

* When there is a specialist qualification for hospital pharmacists, is it compulsory for all pharmacists working in hospital pharmacy?

* What advantage is there to a pharmacist obtaining a specialist qualification when it is not mandatory?

* Which bodies are responsible for specialist qualifications for hospital pharmacists and which run the courses?

* What is the role of the national Hospital Pharmacists’ Association in the whole process of the specialization in hospital pharmacy? and
* Please provide a detailed curriculum(s) of your specialist course(s).

Preliminary results show that specialized hospital pharmacy care is provided in 12 EU Member States serving 72% of the total population of the EU.

The countries with the highest percentage of pharmacists with a specialization in hospital pharmacy out of the total number of hospital pharmacists are:

Belgium (100%),
the Netherlands (90%),
Spain (95%),
France (93%),
Italy and Czech Republic (60%),
Hungary and Switzerland (50%) and
Austria (49%).

The minimum time to undertake the specialization in hospital pharmacy varies from 1 year (Belgium), 2 years (Turkey), 3 years (5 countries: Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Switzerland), 4 years (4 countries: Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, Spain) to 5 years (Italy and Portugal).

EAHP will soon publish the results; watch the link in for more information.


Source

http://www.eahp.eu/News/Our-News/EAHP-survey-on-status-of-hospital-pharmacy-specialisation-in-the-Europe

ICT 2010 conference Europe's most visible forum for ICT research and innovation

The ICT 2010 conference will take place in Brussels on 27-29 September 2010.

ICT 2010 is organised by the European Commission and hosted by the Belgian Presidency of the European Union. Around 4.500 participants are expected to attend this event.

This biennial event has become a unique gathering point for researchers, business people, investors, and high level policy makers in the field of digital innovation. ICT 2010 will focus on policy priorities such as Europe's Digital Agenda and the next financial programme of the European Union for funding research and innovation in ICT.

At ICT 2010:

* latest research trends in information and communication technologies
* European priorities for 2.8 billion Euros research funding in ICT, 2011-2012
* Meet potential research and business partners at dozens of networking sessions
* an exhibition with over 5000 square meters of Europe's latest cutting edge ICT research


Key themes for the 2010 conference:

* the potential of digital solutions to promote sustainable growth in a low carbon economy

* The continuing constructive role of ICT in the daily life of citizens

* the importance of public participation in the innovation process.

The conference will include special sessions presenting the European Union's funding priorities for the 2.8 Billion Euros of EU funding available for ICT research and development during 2011-2012.

These themes will be discussed and debated by leading figures from business, academia and politics.

For more info, please see the sources below!


Sources

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/ict/2010/index_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/index_en.htm

French and European workshop during 10th Connectathon, Bordeaux 13-14 April 2010

For a quality care pathway to be delivered to patients, co-operation between healthcare professionals needs to be underpinned by the ability to access medical data held within shared records. IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) provides integration solutions which make the exchange and sharing of healthcare data possible, Today more than 200 Healthcare vendors are using IHE integration profiles, and test their products in Connectathons.

IHE has achieved a broad consensus on issues ranging from requirements analysis to technical specification, thanks to the collaboration it fosters between users and software companies, across a broad spectrum including hospitals, national and regional healthcare organisations tasked with implementing shared record systems and a range of software solution providers – SME’s as well as large companies.

The objective of the workshops we will be running is to showcase IHE’s contribution to integration, and will draw on the practical implementation experience of hospitals, regions or across national deployments.

Workshop : Wednesday April 14, 2010 The challenges of Interoperability Deploying IHE solutions

Detailed program and registration

Sources

http://www.connectathon2010.org/connectathon-2010-bordeaux-france

http://www.connectathon2010.org/european-workshop

http://www.connectathon2010.org/formulaire-de-pre-inscription-registration-form

Discover the European emergency number - 112

Imagine you are visiting an EU country or at home and you need to contact an ambulance, the fire brigade or the police. Would you know which emergency number to call?

As Europeans are increasingly travelling for business or leisure, millions of people could be faced with this problem. Fortunately, there is no need to look up and remember the emergency numbers for each EU country you are visiting. Just remember 112!

112 is the European emergency number, reachable from fixed and mobile phones, free of charge, everywhere in the EU.

Source

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/112/index_en.htm

The socio-economic impact of interoperable electronic health record (EHR) and ePrescribing systems in Europe and beyond

Interoperable electronic health record (EHR) and ePrescribing systems are already high on the political agenda in Europe and beyond.

The goal of the EHR IMPACT study is to support ongoing initiatives and implementation work by the European Commission, Member States governments, private investors, and other actors. The study aims to improve awareness of the benefits and provide new empirical evidence on the socio-economic impact and lessons learnt from successfully implemented systems.

In pursuit of these goals, the study focuses on:

* Defining a conceptual framework and analysing differences in emphasis and functionalities of various kinds of EHR and ePrescribing systems, as well as levels and degrees of interoperability;

* Developing further the state-of-the-art socio-economic impact evaluation methodologies and applying these to interoperable EHR and ePrescribing systems;

* Identifying cases of good practice in terms of overall performance and particularly in economic terms, of implemented, interoperable EHR and ePrescribing systems;

* Evaluating the economic impact of ten implemented solutions from across the healthcare value system, as well as across the EU Member States;

* Presenting and disseminating the gained empirical knowledge to the wider public, to address the need to improve awareness of the benefits of interoperable EHR and ePrescribing systems.

The EHR IMPACT study is commissioned by DG INFSO and Media, unit ICT for Health.

Download The Socio-Economic Impact of Interoperable Electronic Health Record (EHR) and ePrescribing Systems in Europe and Beyond - Final Report


Sources

http://www.ehr-impact.eu/index.htm

http://www.ehealthnews.eu

Connectathon goes to France

The Tenth Annual European interoperability testing event, known as the IHE Connectathon, will be held in Bordeaux, France from April 12th to 16th, 2010 at the Cité Mondiale, a conference center located in the heart of the city on the banks of the Garonne river.

More than 300 information technology engineers from 90 companies are expected for this year's event, an intensive, five-day 'connectivity marathon' for testing the interoperability of applications used in health information systems.

In parallel with these testing activities, Connectathon 2010 will offer two full-day conference programs, one focused on the progress towards interoperability in European health IT programs and one focused on developments in France.

At the IHE Connectathon all companies implementing IHE Technical Framework specifications in their products have a unique opportunity to test their applications with systems and products from other vendors in a real-time interoperability environment.

According to vendors who have participated in previous Connectathons, "the cost of identifying and solving a bug during a Connectathon is about 10 times less than the cost of a bug identified on site."

The results of the Connectathon will be published on the IHE-Europe website and application vendors may refer to the IHE Integration Statements to show compliance of their product with IHE Integration Profiles. This is a clear benefit to vendors when responding to Requests for Proposals from users.

For more information on IHE-Europe please visit: www.ihe-europe.net. Also available on the IHE-Europe website are Success Stories about IHE implementations in Europe, as well as FAQs about Connectathon and IHE frameworks and specifications.

Sources

http://www.ehealthnews.eu/events/1832-connectathon-goes-to-france

http://www.ihe-europe.net/content/connectathon_2010.htm