eHealth

eHealth or e-health: an emerging field in the intersection of medical informatics, public health and business, referring to health services and information delivered or enhanced through the Internet and related technologies. In a broader sense, the term characterizes not only a technical development, but also a state-of-mind, a way of thinking, an attitude, and a commitment for networked, global thinking, to improve health care locally, regionally, and worldwide by using information and communication technology.

The “e” in eHealth does not only stand for “electronic,” but implies a number of other “e’s”:

• Efficiency
• Enhancing quality of care
• Evidence based
• Empowerment of consumers and patients
• Encouragement of a new relationship between the patient and health professional
• Education
• Enabling
• Extending
• Ethics
• Equity

[Source: G Eysenbach. What is e-health? J Med Internet Res. 2001]