Harmonisation of Medical and Health Care Management Data and Technology, Common Functional Specifications, Standards and Communication Protocols

While the raison-d'etre for the whole action to apply information and telecommunication technologies in medicine and health care is that there are benefits to be gained from such developments, and that there are precedents from applications to other subjects and from past applications in the same area, it is extremely important to anticipate the interactions between developments, to exlpoit any multiplier effect of the opportunities they promise and avoid any complications which interaction could imply. It is because of this issue that one of the common threads running through the whole programme is standards and standardisation, whose purpose is to enable equipment and services to connect, interact, prevent problems of inadequate communication, and get leverage from the consttituent technologies. This issue is the subject of this sub-area of the workplan and the corresponding series of tasks.

In practice there can be many different products and companies, all with their claims to be the best in particular fields. There is a strategic necessity to promote standards and monitor the conformance to standards, and in the field of research and development to provide the basis for standards, and in the field of research and development to provide the basis for standards and monitor the build-up of standards. The structures have already been established in Europe, through CEN, CENELEC, EWOS etc, and have been used for results from the exploratory work of AIM. It is planned that is process continue in the 1991-94 phase.