In Greece R&D is highly funded by the EU-R&D framework and mainly focused on the field of Health and Care. This implies:
Patient data-oriented services consisting of all health-related information including demographics, reports, billing, etc.
Resource-oriented services facilitate the interaction of various users with information and services related to resource availability and allocation.
Collaboration services bridge the gap created by the physical distance separating the users.
Decision support services provide access to the distilled knowledge, as well as specific medical procedures and acts.
Educational services in a rural region where access to information sources is scarce.
Added-value services like image processing services, access to specialised indexing and search engines, information filtering and prefetching, content-based image indexing and retrieval engines, and personalised interface, task, and information agents.
Projects on these subjects are for instance:
HYGEIAnet empowers individuals and communities to make informed choices about their own health, the health of others and Crete's health system. It builds on a regional healthcare information infrastructure to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare and to enable the delivery of integrated healthcare services. It provides the information and services that are the foundation for accountability, continuous improvement to healthcare and better understanding of the determinants of the health of the population.
The Virtual Electronic Health Care Record (EHCR) is considered to be one of the key user-oriented services enabled by a Healthcare Information Infrastructure (HII). Heterogeneous autonomous information systems designed to support specific data types, manage individual EHCR segments. The seamless integration of distributed EHCR segments requires interoperability of heterogeneous autonomous information systems and middleware capable of facilitating interoperability and communication of information through standard messages.
The Primary Health Care Centre Information System (PHCCIS) implements a generic and broad-spectrum patient record to be used by General Practitioners. The principle functionality of the system is the electronic storage and management of patient data that are produced during a visit at a Health Care Centre.
The Pre-Hospital Health Emergency Management System (PHEMS) contributes to the development of an integrated regional telemedicine network in Crete. It provides solutions for the geographical tracking of ambulance cars and mobile units, the optimal use of the available resources, the acquisition, transmission, analysis, and storage of vital signs, as well as an electronic emergency episode archive.
Home Care: The main objective of the project is to take advantage of emerging Cable Television network infrastructures to demonstrate how European health-care providers can offer cost-effective care to patients at home. The main outcome will be a set of broadband network applications providing low cost interactive health-care services at home very competitively. These applications will be based on existing and developing European Cable Television network infrastructures in order to provide all kind of users with affordable homecare services.
The Cretan Pilot will demonstrate the suitability of wireless CATV as an efficient, and economical way for providing advanced telemedicine services to the home. Within the Cretan Pilot several technological alternatives will be investigated, assessed and compared as far as the return path is concerned. Specifically Greece intends to demonstrate the use of high speed modems, ISDN, and wireless transmission to implement the return path required for following categories of applications. The applications to be demonstrated are: tele-education of people with special needs (elderly, or handicapped) in health related issues and telemonitoring of patients undergoing non-invasive kidney transfusion at home.
Organisations involved in funding and conducting research/pilot projects include the Regional Government of Crete has assigned a high priority to the development of the island as a model region in the emerging Global Information Society. Furthermore, healthcare is currently regarded as a domain of utmost importance for the development of the Regional Information Society. The Centre for Medical Informatics and Health Telematics Applications is part of the Computer Vision and Robotics Division (CVR), of the Institute of Computer Science (ICS), Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH). CMI / HTA's research activities are primarily concerned with the development of innovative computer methods and tools in the area of medical informatics. Specific goals include the design and development of integrated hospital information systems, telematic applications in medicine, and added-value information services in the healthcare sector.
FORTHnet provides the regional Internet infrastructure for HYGEIAnet. FORTHnet aims to an integrated development in computer networks and information systems in Greece and works on a broad range of activities. FORTHnet S.A. targets to provide telecommunication services and information systems, consulting services, research and development, training, Internet services.
OTE, the national PTT, is an important stakeholder in the development of HYGEIAnet with respect to providing the required telecommunication infrastructure. The telecommunication infrastructure on the island of Crete is rapidly evolving. OTE continues to upgrade the region's infrastructure to support new applications with increased requirements both in terms of speed and reliability.
OANAK was established in 1987 to foster regional development. OANAK has extensive experience in European Union co-funded projects in rural and urban development that relate to infrastructure and service development. In view of its involvement in health telematics projects, OANAK has established a specialised horizontal division (according to matrix organisation principles) and has been instrumental in the creation of the User's Co-ordination Committee with the active co-operation of the Region's Administration Authority.
All regional public healthcare facilities are actively involved in the partnership for establishing and operating HYGEIAnet. These organisations include the Regional University Hospital of Heraklion, the Regional Venizelion-Pananeion Hospital of Heraklion, the District General Hospital of Chania, the District General Hospital of Rethymnon, the National Centre for Emergency - EKAB, the Hospital and Health Care Centre of Neapoli, the Hospital and Health Care Centre of Sitia, the Hospital and Health Care Centre of Ierapetra, the Health Care Centres of 15 regions in Crete, and the Doctors Communities of Gavdos and Hersonissos.