eHealth for Europe.

eHealth has been defined as "a means of applying new low cost electronic technologies, such as 'web enabled' transactions, advanced networks and new design approaches, to healthcare delivery. In practice, it implies not only the application of new technologies, but also a fundamental re-thinking of healthcare processes based on using electronic communication and computer-based support at all levels and for all functions both within the healthcare service itself and in its dealings with outside suppliers. eHealth is a term which implies a way of working rather than a specific technology of application". As the chairman of the eHealth Working Group of the European Health Telematics Association and as an Honorary Consultant Physician at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children as well as a Consultant Paediatrician at the Portland Hospital for Women and Children, the author tries to identify relevant aspects of eHealth for Europe.