A 25-Year Retrospective of Health IT Infrastructure Building : The Example of the Catalonia Region
Piera-Jiménez, Jordi (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)
Carot-Sans, Gerard (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Ramiro Pareta, Marina (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Nogueras, Maria-Mercedes (Agency of Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia)
Folguera Profitós, Júlia (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Ródenas, Pepi (Servei Catala de la Salut)
Jiménez Rueda, Alba (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
de Pando Navarro, Thais (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Mira Palacios, Josep Antoni (Center for Telecommunications and Information Technologies)
Fajardo, Joan Carles (Servei Catala de la Salut)
Ustrell Campillo, Joan (Center for Telecommunications and Information Technologies)
Vela, Emili (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Monterde, David (Servei Catala de la Salut)
Valero-Bover, Damià (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Bonet, Tara (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Tarrasó Urios, Guillermo (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Cantenys Sabà, Roser (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Fabregat-Fabregat, Pau (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Gomez Oliveros, Beatriz (Digitalization for the Sustainability of the Healthcare System (DS3) Research Group)
Berdún, Jesús (Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona, Catalunya))
Michelena, Xabier (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron)
Cano, Isaac (Hospital Clínic i Provincial de Barcelona)
González Colom, Rubèn (Hospital Clínic i Provincial de Barcelona)
Roca, Josep (Hospital Clínic i Provincial de Barcelona)
Solans, Oscar (Servei Catala de la Salut)
Pontes García, Caridad (Institut de Recerca Sant Pau)
Pérez-Sust, Pol (Servei Catala de la Salut)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Date:	2024
Abstract:	Over the past decades, health care systems have significantly evolved due to aging populations, chronic diseases, and higher-quality care expectations. Concurrently with the added health care needs, information and communications technology advancements have transformed health care delivery. Technologies such as telemedicine, electronic health records, and mobile health apps promise enhanced accessibility, efficiency, and patient outcomes, leading to more personalized, data-driven care. However, organizational, political, and cultural barriers and the fragmented approach to health information management are challenging the integration of these technologies to effectively support health care delivery. This fragmentation collides with the need for integrated care pathways that focus on holistic health and wellness. Catalonia (northeast Spain), a region of 8 million people with universal health care coverage and a single public health insurer but highly heterogeneous health care service providers, has experienced outstanding digitalization and integration of health information over the past 25 years, when the first transition from paper to digital support occurred. This Viewpoint describes the implementation of health ITs at a system level, discusses the hits and misses encountered in this journey, and frames this regional implementation within the global context. We present the architectures and use trends of the health information platforms over time. This provides insightful information that can be used by other systems worldwide in the never-ending transformation of health care structure and services.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article de revisió ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Catalonia ; Digitalization ; Ehealth ; Health ITs ; Health care delivery ; Health care structure ; Integrated care ; Integrated pathway ; Integrated treatment plan ; Interoperability ; Open platforms ; Process management
Published in:	Journal of medical Internet research, Vol. 26 (2024) , p. e58933, ISSN 1438-8871

DOI: 10.2196/58933
PMID: 39556831

22 p, 1.4 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles