The impact of EHR and digital electrocardiograms

The diffusion of the Electronic Health Record demands seamless integration and interoperability of medical devices with 3-party information systems. Nowadays cardiovascular diseases are the largest cause of mortality in western countries so, especially in the domain of Cardiology, medical devices are an essential part in the process of acquiring, storing and communicating accurately the current health status of a citizen. The Danish Centre for Health Telematics is participating in the European Funded project OpenECG that will assist and support manufacturers and integrators in creating interoperable equipment and software for seamless exchange of electrocardiograms. A pilot project will be established in the Funen Health Care Network to assess the benefits of the electronic communication of electrocardiograms.