News

TEN4Health Service „GesundheitsCard Europa“ of AOK Rheinland / Hamburg and Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) increased its customer base to 16 million customers
5 February 2009 -- Five German insurance companies AOK Berlin, AOK Brandenburg, AOK Sachsen-Anhalt, AOK Schleswig-Holstein and AOK Westfalen-Lippe have in January 2009 joined AOK Rheinland / Hamburg and Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) in providing the new "TEN4Health GCE" (www.ten4health.eu) cross-border web-based healthcare service. This decision increases the customer base for the AOK/TK service from 10 million up to 16 million customers. The AOK/TK service is currently offered through hospitals in Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands and will soon be operational in Italy and the Czech Republic. To ensure the service remains full interoperable with others, it is now being adapted to use European service and message definitions proposed last year by AOK Rheinland / Hamburg to European partners and the EC and agreed this week for use in both the TEN4Health and NetCards projects. This represents a very significant move towards a common European solution and standard for cross-border eHealth in Europe.
“With this agreement we are paving the way for a European standard supporting the necessary communication and data exchange processes for cross-border healthcare in Europe” said Pascal Collotte, project officer at the European Commission DG Information Society and Media responsible for both projects, co-funded in the eTEN programme.

 

European services standard for cross-border healthcare provision agreed - an important step towards improved healthcare provision for mobile European Union citizens
4 February 2009 -- Two European projects developing IT-based services for cross-border healthcare provision, TEN4Health and NetC@rds, have agreed on a common European web service specification supporting standardised messaging to link hospitals and other health care providers with health insurance organisations and with national healthcare IT infrastructure. The common web services are specified in WSDL and messaging is XML-based. The development of the services and this agreement are seen as a major step towards full interoperability in web-services provision throughout European health care. The new services help ensure that any European citizen requiring healthcare in another European country can be served easily, that health care providers can reliably determine that a patient is covered by health insurance and rapidly receive reimbursement. For health insurance organisations offering these services it is seen as a market discriminator, positively distinguishing them from competitors in the growing and increasingly competitive European health insurance market. .
Read more about "European services standard..."

 

The TEN4Health project has been presented in the eTEN News Q4/2008
15 January 2009 - The article published refers to the TEN4Health workshop on 9 September 2008 in Kiel, Germany. This workshop was the project's mid-term event and focused on concrete steps towards improving pan-European healthcare provision and on policy needs to accelerate European integration also in this field. Representatives of the European Commission and of the European Parliament have highlighted the TEN4Health project as an example for improving cross-border healthcare services in Europe. The TEN4Health project contributes towards improved healthcare provision for mobile European Union citizens. Initiated by leading public health insurance providers, the TEN4Health service package assures access of citizens to healthcare in participating Member States' hospitals, based on a secure web service and its integration into developing European eHealth infrastructure networks. The hospitals are located in areas with heavy cross-border tourism, like the town of Villach in Austria or the Veneto region in Northern Italy.
See the eTEN Newsletter Quarter 4 - 2008

eTEN is supporting the deployment of trans-European e-services in the public interest. The programme aimed to accelerate the take-up of services to sustain the European social model of an inclusive, cohesive society. TEN4Health is being funded as one of the projects in the eHealth area.

 

Ten4Health workshop results highlights in the media
13 Oct 2008 - Under the heading of "Citizen Services for Borderless Healthcare - EU Workshop Presents Successful Solutions" the publication Hospital Post Europe has published the results of the Ten4Health workshop held at the eHealth Conference 2008 in Kiel, Germany in September 2008.
The article can be downloaded here.

The workshop results were also highlighted in "eHealth Europe" in an article on
"TEN4Health improves cross-border cooperation".

 

TEN4Health improves cross-border cooperation
19 Sep 2008 - Representatives of the European Commission and of the European Parliament have highlighted the TEN4Health project as an example for improving cross-border healthcare services in Europe. Both citizens and hospitals are seen to benefit. Read more ....
TEN4Health improves cross-border cooperation full version

 

Citizen Services for Borderless Healthcare
TEN4Health mid-term Event Presents Successful Solutions
11 September 2008 - Travelling abroad for pleasure, education, or work has become a natural part of life for many European citizens. Products and services can be bought in another member state when required, but obtaining healthcare outside their country of residence still presents a problem to most European citizens. This was the starting point for a recent workshop which was part of the “eHealth 2008” conference in Kiel, Germany, organized by the European Commission’s TEN4Health project. The workshop focused on current e-Health solutions of cross-border healthcare from a variety of European countries....
read more "Citizen Services for Borderless Healthcare"

 

eHealth initiatives to support medical assistance while travelling and living abroad.

On July 2, the European Commission released, as part of the Renewed Social Agenda, two documents with significant importance to suppoting cross-border healthcare delivery. empirica is proud of its substantial contributions to the conceptual groundwork of cross-border and interoperable healthcare delivery through its various studies and projects ...

The long awaited proposal for a "Directive on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare" aims at clarification of the legal rights of patients to healthcare abroad and opens the way for reinforced cooperation between Member States.
The "Recommendation on cross-border interoperability of electronic health record (EHR) systems" provides Member States with basic principles and guidelines for ensuring that vital information on patients is accessible anywhere at any time throughout Europe – no matter where the patient or doctor are based.

empirica is proud of its substantial contributions to the conceptual groundwork of cross-border and interoperable healthcare delivery through its various studies and projects:

TEN4Health - Trans-European healthcare support network for Europe’s mobile citizens,
i2-Health - Interoperability Initiative for a European eHealth Area,
SemanticHealth - Semantic Interoperability RTD roadmap,
eHealth ERA - Towards the establishment of a European eHealth Resarch Area.

empirica’s leading competence in this area is also reflected in contributions to the EC’s Recommendation on cross-border interoperability of electronic health record systems.

A concrete example of European progress in eHealth-supported cross-border healthcare delivery is the Smart Open Services (S.O.S.) project. Co-funded by the European Commission trhough its Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), it was initiated by 12 Member States and their industry players. It will enable health professionals to access specific medical data such as current medications of patients from other EU countries. empirica has been involved in shaping and preparing this complex European endeavour, and participates as a beneficiary in the project consortium with responsibility for administrative support for Member State authorities and all other participants involved in this unique undertaking.

 

Workshop "Citizen Services for Borderless Healthcare in the European Union: Current Situation - Vision – Solutions" on 9th September 2008, 9:00 – 12:00 h.

As part of the TEN4Health project (www.ten4health.eu) the project is organising a high-level eHealth Workshop at the "eHealth Conference 2008" in Kiel, Germany. The workshop is entitled "Citizen Services for Borderless Healthcare in the European Union: Current Situation - Vision – Solutions" and will take place on 9th September 2008, 9:00 – 12:00 h as part of the "eHealth 2008 Conference". The workshop is free. No attendance fees are required. Refreshments and lunch for the participants are sponsored by the TEN4Health project.The full workshop program and further information can be obtained here: www.ten4health.eu/workshop.html

 

eHealth Workshop at the "eHealth Conference 2008":
"Citizen Services for Borderless Healthcare in the European Union: Current Situation - Vision – Solutions"
3th June 2008

9th September 2008, 9:00 – 12:00 h
Registration is open NOW!! (please send an e-mail to (Werner dot korte at empirica dot com)

To avoid SPAM-abuse of the e-mail address the '@' was written as 'at' and '.' as 'dot'.
Please change the recipient address of your message accordingly. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Travelling abroad for pleasure, education, or work has become a natural part of life for many European citizens. Products and services can be bought in another Member State when the need arises, but obtaining healthcare outside their residence country is still problematic for most European citizens. The workshop focuses on concrete steps towards improving pan-European healthcare provision and on policy needs to accelerate European integration also in this field so close to the daily needs of many European citizens. It is organised by the TEN4Health project which is funded by the European Commission. The TEN4Health project contributes towards improved healthcare provision for mobile European Union citizens. Initiated by leading public health insurance providers, the TEN4Health service package assures access of citizens to healthcare in participating Member States’ hospitals, based on a secure web service and its integration into developing European eHealth infrastructure networks. The full workshop program and further information can be obtained here: www.ten4health.eu/workshop.html

 

Ten4Health project on citizen services for borderless healthcare in the European Union presented at the European Ministerial eHealth Conference 2008
13 May 2008 - Mag. Karl Wulz from the regional hospital (Landeskrankenhaus) Villach in Austria and Werner B. Korte, empirica presented the Ten4Health project on citizen services for borderless healthcare in the European Union at the European Ministerial eHealth Conference 2008. They concrete example they provided the audience with came from the above hospital. It clearly showed that through the use of the Ten4Health online insurance status verification service and the online billing and reimbursement services provided by the Ten4Health project and piloted in the above hospital the period of payment to the hospital could be reduced dramatically. With the new services in operation the duration is down to a maximum of two months compared to 24-36 months before. Mag. Karl Wulz, business director of the hospital concluded that the Ten4Health service is a true pan-European healthcare service, convenient for patients, hospitals and health insurer, covering "online insurance status verification" and "online billing/reimbursement", resulting in a reduction of admin work for patients, hospital and health insurer, fast and reliable payments and no unsuccessful claims. In addition it also provides positive PR for the hospital ("hospital of choice") and the health insurer ("health insurer of choice") and therefore can be seen as a win-win situation for all stakeholders involved and the European citizen.

Dr. Karl A. Stroetmann, Senior Research Associate with empirica, gave an invited key note speech on Ten4Health
03 March 2008 - Dr. Karl A. Stroetmann, Senior Research Associate with empirica, gave an invited key note speech on “Ten4Health: Supporting trans- European healthcare services for mobile citizens” at the 3rd Portuguese IT for Health Congress March 4 and 5, 2008 in Lisbon, Portugal. It was organized by the Associacao dos Profficionais de Informatica, Tecnologias de Informacao, Comunicacao e Internet de Portugal. Karl’s contribution triggered a broad and intensive discussion on the availability of pan-European and cross-border healthcare services, national and European policy perspectives, and the role eHealth is expected to play in this context.

For More information see
The TEN4Health business case:
Enabling trans-European healthcare for mobile citizens

"New eHealth Possibilities with the Project Ten4Health" presented at international conference in Basel (Switzerland)
23 February 2008 - Ten4Health actively participated with a presentation on "New eHealth Possibilities with the Project Ten4Health" of Dr. Karl A. Stroetmann in the session on "Best practice examples for cross-border health co-operation" at the Conference "European Co-operation in the Health Sector - Added Value for People, Economy and Regions" which was orangised by the Association of the European Border Regions (AEBR) and the REGIO BASILIENSIS on 22 February 2008 in Basel (Switzerland).

TEN4Health at the international workshop of the global Health Informatic Associations on Health services for Travellers, May 26 in Gotheburg, Sweden MIE2008
18 February 2008 - TEN4Health has been invited to present the TEN4Health services for integrating healthcare across Europe for travelling citizens at the MIE2008.
Dr. Karl A. Stroetmann, empirica will report about the practical experiences gained and impact achieved by TEN4Health services in Europe. Three major areas of the world will be covered in this event: Europe (represented by TEN4Health, North America and Asia Pacific). It is the second panel organised in the framework of the trilateral protocol, following the one at the MEDINFO 2007 in Brisbane organised under IMIA by EFMI-AMIA-APAMI

AOK Rheinland/Hamburg and Techniker Krankenkasse expands health care services for mobile citizens abroad.
07 December 2007 - AOK Rheinland/Hamburg has expanded its services to include the hospitals in Zell am See and Saalfelden thereby covering a large number of skiing resorts heavily visited by its customers. More details (in German) can be obtained form the press releases.

For more details, see:
Presseinformation
Unfälle beim Wintersport: Kliniken in Österreich und Dolomiten akzeptieren deutsche Versichertenkarten

Start der Skisaison:
AOK Rheinland/Hamburg und Techniker Krankenkasse bauen medizinische Versorgung in Österreich aus

The TEN4Health project was presented at the World of Health IT.
25 October 2007 - The TEN4Health service package presented at the event contributes towards improved healthcare provision for mobile European Union citizens.
Initiated by leading public health insurance providers, the service package assures access of citizens to healthcare in participating Member States’ hospitals, based on a secure web service and its integration into developing European eHealth infrastructure networks. The WoHIT took place in Vienna from 22-25 October 2007. It has been designed by and for clinicians and other health professionals; health IT users and buyers; directors and administrators; informatics professionals; academicians; relevant standardisation and competent authorities on an international level and national level, and vendors such as software and hardware development companies and professional services firms.

First NetC@rds and Ten4Health workshop took place in Paris
The NetC@rds and TEN4Health Consortium are pleased to announce that the First Common Workshop took place on 13th November 2007 in Paris. The Workshop took place in the frame of the cooperation between the two eTEN projects aimed at confronting approaches and methods adopted, sharing knowledge and establish possible fruitful synergies in the frame of eHealth services for citizens’ mobility”

Ten4Health and NetC@rds at the eChallenges2007
The eChallenges e-2007 Conference & Exhibition took place from 24 - 26 October 2007 in The Hague (Den Haag) (http://www.echallenges.org/e2007/default.asp?page=home).
It was the seventeenth in a series of annual technology research conferences supported by the European Commission, which regularly attracts over 600 delegates from leading commercial, government and research organisations around the world to share knowledge and experience, lessons learnt and good practice in areas of applied Information Communication Technologies (ICT). Through its member Vecozo the Ten4Health project was presented at a booth with Netc@rds.

Latest results from the empirica-coordinated eTEN project
01 October 2007 – Latest results from the empirica-coordinated eTEN project "Trans-European healthcare support network for Europe’s mobile citizens: Meeting the challenge of cross-Member State healthcare services" (www.ten4health.eu) will be presented at the World of Health IT, Vienna, Thursday 25 October 2007.
The TEN4Health service package contributes towards improved healthcare provision for mobile European Union citizens. Initiated by leading public health insurance providers, it assures access of citizens to healthcare in participating Member States’ hospitals, based on a secure web service and its integration into developing European eHealth infrastructure networks.

For more details, see:
http://www.healthtechwire.com/Pressrelease.146+M54635b23350.0.html

Seamless Healthcare Provision throughout Europe - the TEN4Health Service
09 August 2007 – The TEN4Health project had its kick-off meeting on 1 August 2007 at the AOK Rheinland/Hamburg premises in Grevenbroich. The aim of the project is to contribute towards improved healthcare provision for mobile European Union citizens. Initiated by leading public health insurance providers, the TEN4Health service package assures access of citizens to healthcare in participating Member States' hospitals, based on a secure web service and its integration into developing European eHealth infrastructure networks. The TEN4Health service package fundamentally contributes to the ubiquitous acceptance of the European Health Insurance Card and prepares for the later introduction of its eCard version. It greatly enhances and extends its utility by integrating efficient support for electronic post-processing at the Union level. The TEN4Health service will be validated at 11 hospitals directly participating in the consortium, and several other indirectly participating hospital sites across six Member States - Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

AOK Rheinland schließt Verträge mit Italien
09 August 2007 – DÜSSELDORF - Versicherte von AOK Rheinland/Hamburg und Techniker Krankenkasse können ihre Chipkarte in immer mehr Ländern einsetzen. Die beiden Kassen haben Verträge mit rund 50 Kliniken in Norditalien abgeschlossen. Dort können sich Patienten ambulant und stationär behandeln lassen, die Abrechnung erfolgt über die Versichertenkarte. "Unsere neuen Verträge mit den Krankenhäusern in Italien sind ein weiterer Schritt zu einer unkomplizierten Gesundheitsversorgung in Europa", sagte der Vorstandsvorsitzende der AOK Rheinland/Hamburg Wilfried Jacobs. Seit 2004 ist die Chipkarte der beiden Kassen auch außerhalb der deutschen Grenzen gültig, zunächst in den niederländischen und belgischen Küstenregionen. Im letzten Jahr kamen Kliniken in den österreichischen Regionen Villach und Klagenfurt hinzu.

Die Pressemitteilung : AOK Rheinland schließt Verträge mit Italien
Die PDF Version : AOK Rheinland schließt Verträge mit Italien

TEN4Health in the Czech Republic - government, participating hospitals and service providers welcome the intiative
14 April 2007 – Prag, Karlovy Vary: The TEN4Health project, which aims at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of processes related to healthcare provision in another Member State, was presented in the Czech Republic on 12/13 April, during the negotiation phase with the EC. Despite important statements by and events of the national government of the Czech Republic in the same time slot, the project received significant media coverage from both press conferences - one in Prague, and one in Karlovy Vary. The project content was welcomed by the community in Karlovy Vary, which included representatives of the participating hospital and associated services, such as ambulances and mountain rescue, as well as guests from health provider organisations from across the north of the Czech Republic.
An interview with Hans-Willi Schemken from the AOK Rheinland / Hamburg, the initiator of this European initiative, was shown in the prime time news of the biggest Czech TV channel.

Media reports for download ..... Media report 04 2007