Improving continuity of care: the role of IT

The 2008 HOPE Exchange Programme was organized around the topic of Information Technology. The concluding conference of the exchange programme "Improving continuity of care: the role of IT" was organised in Paris on 29 May 2008.

Continuity of care can be defined from the patient's point of view as continuous caring relationship with an identified health care professional. For health care providers it can be defined by the delivery of a 'seamless service' through the sharing of information, coordination and even integration between different providers.

Patients usually have to meet several professionals; models of continuity have then to be developed.  Continuity in the delivery of care is using various tools such as case-management, multidisciplinary team working and other (new) models of service delivery to improve patient outcomes.

Health care professionals and institutions have designed strategies to support change and approaches to better link and coordinate health care services. They also actively support patients’ participation in their own care. This includes using IT tools; eHealth applications as a tool for coordination.

Exchange programme 2008

Activities

Hospitals in the 27
EU Member States

Quality of care

Human resources

Public health

Hospital, health care
and internal market

e-Health
The role of IT
Interoperability

Cross-border
co-operation

Green hospitals

Networking