German smartcard rollout brought forward
In a surprise move, the German health IT agency, Gematik, has accelerated the schedule of the German national smartcard project to April 2008.
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Gematik approves RFID smartcard terminal
Smartcard technology provider, Assa Abloy Identification Technologies Group, has received approval from Gematik to participate in phase one of field tests of the electronic health card programme in Germany. The company’s smartcard terminal, is claimed to be the only one that supports contact free radio frequency identification device (RFID) authentication, enabling health professionals to securely […]
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Norwegian 24-hour telephone advice launched
Norway’s Norsk Helse Telefon 24 (NHT24) a private provider of telephone triage services to Norway and other Scandinavian countries has chosen Clinical Solutions to provide the software behind its telephone health advice service. NHT24 was launched in June, offering subscription-based telephone advice services to people living in Scandinavian countries. "NHT24 is entirely a private […]
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Rhineland-Palatina to offer PHR to newborns
The German federal state of Rhineland-Palatina is to offer all its newborn infants a smartcard-based personal health record (PHR) on the internet, in a project beginning 2008. The project is believed to be the first time that a web-based personal health record will be offered across an entire German region. Rhineland-Palatina is a mid-size federal […]
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Strong growth in German health IT market
A new study of the German health IT market has sized the sector as being worth between Euros 1.1bn and 1.4bn, and says it is set to grow at up to 6 percent a year over the next 4 years as the German economy gathers momentum. The study by analysts IDC paints an optimistic outlook for the […]
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New telemedicine network in Bavaria
The Southern German state of Bavaria has announced the setup of a new major hospital telemedicine network that aims to improve the care for children with inborn cardiac defects. Within the next few months, nine regional hospitals in Bavaria and one in Austria will be connected electronically to the German Heart Centre in Munich, one […]
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SCM gain Gematik accreditation
SCM Microsystems have announced that their eHealth 100 card terminal has received approval from Gematik to participate in phase one of field tests of the electronic health card programme in Germany. The company claim to be the first to receive approval from Gematik for its new card terminal, which was developed specifically for the German […]
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Swiss agree compromise e-health strategy
After extensive political wrangling the Swiss Bundesrat – federal parliament – has endorsed a national e-health strategy, based on the implementation of electronic medical records by 2015. The adoption of the 58 page strategy was severely delayed due to protracted power struggles both between the federal and the regional governments and between regional governments and […]
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Health insurance smart card scheme starts in EU
European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) are being formally introduced today in 13 EU countries, including Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Estonia and Slovenia. The cards, which will eventually replace paper-based reciprocal health agreement forms such as the E111 and E128, contain a chip holding information that allows connection to a Health Insurance Data Server based in the […]
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US Medical Insurance Group to Subsidise PDA Software
A US physician liability insurance organisation, MedAmerica Mutual Risk Retention Group, is to offer its members a subsidy towards the purchase of copies of the eProcrates handheld clinical reference source for handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs) in order to improve patient safety and reduce drug errors. California-based MedAmerica Mutual will subsidise the ePocrates Rx Pro application, […]
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