Bad Hofgastein, October 6, 2010 – The Directorate General of Health and Consumers of the EU Commission is developing a completely new type of mechanism for health information in Europe. Its developers refer to it as a new health Wikipedia, but it actually goes under the more sonorous name of HEIDI (Health in Europe Information and Data Interface). Experts discussed it today at the European Health Forum Gastein, presenting the current state of progress of this ambitious project for the first time in public and talking about the needs and comments of future users.

The EHFG in Bad Hofgastein, Austria, is the most important conference on health care policy in the EU. This year, about 600 decision-makers from the fields of health care policy, research, science and business and from patient organizations from more than 40 countries have gathered to discuss central future issues pertaining to European health care systems.   

HEIDI is a tool  for pooling, presenting and updating good quality health information throughout Europe, providing information on health status, determinants, diseases, health systems, trends and policy aspects. The aim is to create a two-way information tool with added-value by providing a single central health reference for the EU. Everyone with internet access can use Heidi wiki.

HEIDI seeks to provide a comprehensive Europe-wide collection of data and information on issues relevant to the health care system.  The database is intended to make health information more transparent by delivering comparable data on the public’s state of health and on disease patterns and symptoms, on health trends and on institutional and political guidelines and measures in the health sector. The content is constantly updated based on voluntary information provided free of charge by experts, health authorities, agencies and various health institutions within the EU. The main target audience, according to the European Commission: those professionally involved  in health, i.e. policy makers, health professionals, academics, NGOs etc.

As a Europe-wide platform, HEIDI gives experts a tool for comparing and exchanging information. They can constantly question data and if need be, correct or update it and make comprehensive feedback on it at any time.

The initial content in HEIDI wiki was based on the Eugloreh report (Report on the Status of Health in the European Union), a project which was supported by the EU Public Health Programme and published in 2009. Moreover, more than 170 European experts provided their knowledge and analysis for the report.

Currently the project is still at a test phase. HEIDI is online at http://ec.europa.eu/health/heidi, but content needs still revision. The full implementation is expected for 2011.

Workshop 2: “Heidi – the European Health Information System”: Wednesday 6 October 2010

www.ehfg.org
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