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Risks and Opportunities with E-Health

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The demand for health services in the EU has increased dramatically. This is a result of aging, the effects of chronic diseases and the mobility of patients and health professionals. This combined with growing expectations of citizens about the quality of health care, is leading to an increasingly heavy burden on the health systems of the EU Member States. Government and healthcare organizations all over the world are making significant investments in information and communications technologies. Policy-makers, healthcare organizations and many healthcare professionals have embraced EHealth as a way to improve patient health outcomes, reduce medical errors, reduce costs and enable reformation for health care. However, the use of Internet technology in the healthcare involves risks, especially with regards to the patients. EHealth is the application of information technologies, telecommunications technologies, and information management techniques to the management and delivery of health care. (SOURCE) First of all, we should ask ourselves whether it is reliable or not. Products or services offered over the Internet are not always of good quality. On the Internet, both legal and illegal drugs offered. With unregistered medicines, there is no certainty about the safety and efficacy of these drugs. In some cases this may even are fake drugs. Illegal drugs may contain a different quantity of active substances, or any other or even without any active substances. With experimental drugs there is a risk of adverse effects, the dosage have often not yet been established and the efficacy is not yet proven. Also, there is no guarantee that drugs are dealt properly and preserved. Secondly, it should be taken into consideration that the patient is still not sufficiently aware of the possibilities offered by e-health. Internet offers new opportunities for consultation, another access to medicines and other products, and access to lots of information. A part of the population does not have Internet access or cannot handle it. Although the use of ICT among the elderly is rising, there is still a large group that not yet adopted ICT in their lives. The use of traditional means of c

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