Thanks to this application, pharmacists, doctors and hospitals will be able to see the medication a patient has been prescribed. Thus, possible multiple prescriptions and medications' side-effects will be made available.
The application will start in three pilot regions: in the two districts of Vienna 21 and 22, in Wels in (Upper Austria) and in Reutte (Tyrol). After half a year of trial, the application will pass to the implementation phase during 2012.
The Health Minister, Mr. Alois Stöger assumes that in 2012 eMedication will be rolled and initial medical findings will be saved in electronic health records, while by 2015, most of the medical findings will have been included there. The cost of developing ELGA's core components is estimated at around €30 million.
Documents and medical findings such as laboratory and radiological results, discharge letters, and medication data should be saved, if they are required for the treatment and care of patients. The data must be updated and relevant, so they will be deleted after a certain period of time (six months or three years), with possibilities of extension. Furthermore, patients' wills and powers of attorney can be stored.
After years of preparation, the ELGA project is now underway. In the coming days, the Minister will send the ELGA Law for review. With ELGA, all medical findings and health-related documents will be stored and become available to patients and doctors. As Mr. Stöger noted, data will be given the highest priority.
Last but not least, all patients in Austria will be able to participate; they will also be able to store their data at any time in their electronic health records.
Further information:
- Original News Article - Electronic Health Records - ELGA (in German)
- Related ePractice News Article - AT: eHealth in progress
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Quelle/Source: epractice, 17.03.2011