Page 49 - Proceedings of the 2017 ITU Kaleidoscope

Challenges for a data-driven society

Table 1. Systematic Scoring
In developed countries, standards are highly relevant for e-
e-Health AND standard Health related projects that are promoted at national and
standard* OR ehealth/e-health max. 6 regional levels. Literature describes the elements,
3 points
in title points development process and the outcomes of such projects.
standard* OR ehealth/e-health max. 4 The U.S. has been active in initiating projects that involve
2 points
in keywords points standards for the exchange of clinical data nationwide and
standard*, interoperab*, regulat*, disseminating the project outcomes in the academia. At the
compatib*, certificat*, innovat*, federal level, the Strategic Health IT Advanced Research
ehealth/e-health, mhealth/m- Projects (SHARP) Program developed an open source
health/mobile health, tele*, health max. 13
1 point framework to support the ubiquitous exchange, sharing and
information*, medical informatics, points reuse of operational clinical data stored in electronic health
electronic health record*, electronic
medical record* records, using Consolidated Health Informatics standard
in abstract terminologies [15]. Similar approaches to the SHAPRn
Total sum of all points above project have been taken in other countries such as Spain
score [16]. The National Cardiovascular Research Infrastructure
(NCRI) project in the U.S. was initiated to convert existing
review because the term e-Health started to be used from data standards for clinical research and patient care data
this period [6]. into appropriate computer-based language structures that
could be endorsed as an accepted data standard for public
A total of 10,827 articles that met the selection criteria use enabling data exchange across networks [17]. These
stated above were retrieved for title and abstract screening. endeavors have been made to address the issue of
This number is a record obtained after duplicates were standardizing health data from diverse healthcare
removed. For an effective and accurate screening, a organizations and providers and establishing infrastructure
systematic scoring was performed according to Anderson driven by standards.
[14] as shown in Table 1. The range of the total scores was
between 0 and 12. In the U.K., early establishment of an information
governance initiative to manage data quality of e-health
2.3. Data analysis information took place. The initiative is known as the Data
Accreditation Programme proposed in 1998 by the National
Based on the systematic scoring outcome, 411 title and Health Service (NHS), which incorporated information
abstracts were further screened for selection. Once the title governance standards [18]. At the regional level in Europe,
and abstract were screened, the article’s full text was a project solely for e-Health standards, the eStandards
assessed to make a final decision on inclusion or exclusion. project funded by the European Commission, was initiated
After reviewing the full text, a preliminary overview was that was aimed at the regional and global alignment of
performed in order to identify the key features and themes standards. A recent study shows the results of 19 case
of selected studies. Later, extracted data will be synthesized studies of e-Health deployment projects carried out as part
to systematically organize major themes in the e-Health of the eStandards project, which deal with how to achieve
standards literature and to develop a conceptual framework coexistence of competing or overlapping standards in
that can explain the dynamic role of standards and practical terms that ensure sustainability [19]. Europe, in
standardization in relation to e-Health. general, presents considerable interest in data protection
and harmonization of standards in its e-Health projects.
3. PRELIMINARY RESULTS
Literature on national approaches taken by other developed
From the 10,827 articles identified through the systematic countries such as New Zealand and Canada was discovered.
search, and after 411 of them were screened, 84 articles A review of New Zealand’s health ICT standardization
were selected and analyzed for the purpose of the showed progress in the establishment of standards and
preliminary overview of key themes. guidelines by government bodies and in the adoption of
standards in health information exchanges [20]. Canada
3.1. Standards for e-Health in developed and developing introduced the Canadian Health Outcomes for Better
Information and Care (C-HOBIC) project involving the use
countries of standardized clinical nursing terminology for patient
assessments and implemented it in its provinces’ healthcare
Standards are an important part of building and systems, which was associated with benefits for continuity
implementing e-Heath projects and strategies at national of care and aggregation of nursing information [21].
and regional levels in developed countries and also
increasingly in developing countries. Varying levels and Overall, we found that developed countries have deployed
scales of the projects and strategies are witnessed, but various e-Health projects that are targeted for a specific
developed and developing countries share the common healthcare setting and purpose, which incorporate standards.
understanding and goal of improving healthcare using ICT.

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