Objective
PRESTIGE is to introduce telematics applications for faster implementation of new standards of best practice in Europe. By these techniques it will assist in the generation, dissemination and routine application of guidelines and bridge the time lag between research and everyday clinical practice. The project will include heart and nervous diseases, diabetes and general practice, mobilising substantial user involvement through national and specialist user groups.
There is a wide consensus between healthcare professionals that unacceptable delays occur in the implementation of new standards for 'best practice'. This problem is common to the everyday practice of healthcare professionals throughout Europe and results in poor quality of care and wasted resources. PRESTIGE addresses this problem by the use of clinical guidelines and protocols which have been shown to be effective in improving the healthcare process in terms of quality, efficiency and outcome. The project will use healthcare telematics technology to assist in the generation, dissemination and routine application of guidelines, and thus will bridge the gap between medical research and everyday clinical practice. To support the use of clinical guidelines and protocols, PRESTIGE will verify and pilot a set of integrated technologies that build on experience and expertise gained during the 1991-1994 AIM programme together with other leading European professional, governmental, clinical, industrial and specialist participants.
PRESTIGE is structured into several actions addressing major healthcare specialties including cardiothoracic disease, neurological disease, diabetes and general practice. Substantial user involvement has been assured through national and specialist user groups and renowned healthcare centres. PRESTIGE will make available a common pool of interoperable technologies to these user groups and clinical sites in the following areas:
- architectures for multimedia patient records
- act management
- terminology and multilingual services
- generic models for representing guidelines and protocols.
The outcome of PRESTIGE will be an installed and sustainable healthcare telematics infrastructure that supports the dissemination and application of research-based and consensus-based guidelines defining best practice in clinical care.