Approaches in European health information systems architectures.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in healthcare represents a fundamental and highly qualifying pre-requisite for enabling the interoperability of information systems, the continuity of the caring process to the patient over the territory, the creation of an integrated electronic healthcare record, as well as the monitoring and optimisation of the organisational and economical aspects of healthcare enterprises. This paper presents a European architectural strategy for healthcare information systems, capable of facilitating the evolution of the existing procedures and their smooth integration into a homogeneous information and functional infrastructure, without requiring major modifications in already existing modules and protecting, therefore, previous investments.