eHealth: Legal, Ethical and Governance Challenges

This publication identifies and discusses important challenges affecting eHealth in the EU and North America in the three areas of law, ethics and governance. It makes meaningful contributions to the eHealth discourse by suggesting solutions and making recommendations for good practice and potential ways forward. Legal challenges discussed include issues related to electronic medical records, telemedicine, the Internet and pharmaceutical drugs, healthcare information systems and medical liability. Ethical challenges focus on telehealth and service delivery in the home, Web 2.0 and the Internet, patient perceptions and ethical frameworks. Governance challenges focus on IT governance in healthcare, governance and decision-making in acute care hospitals, and different models of eHealth governance. The publication provides useful support materials and readings for persons active in developing current understandings of the legal, ethical and governance challenges involved in the eHealth context.

Part I – Overview: Assessing Legal, Ethical and Governance Challenges in eHealth.- Part II – Legal Challenges: Legal Regulation of Electronic Health Records: a Comparative Analysis of Europe and the US.- Electronic Health Records and Privacy Interests.- Data Protection and Health Care Information Systems: Where is the Balance?.- Legal Challenges Regarding Telemedicine Services.- The Internet and Pharmaceutical Drugs in the Era of Interoperable eHealth Systems Across the European Union .- Understanding Liability in eHealth: Towards Greater Clarity at European Union Level.- Part III – Ethical Challenges: eHealth: Frameworks for Assessing Ethical Impacts.- Telehealth and Service Delivery in the Home: Care, Support and the Importance of User Autonomy.- Medicine 2.0: Ethical Challenges of Social Media for the Health Profession.- The Internet and health: International approaches to evaluating the quality of Web-based health information.- Patients, trust and ethics in information privacy in eHealth.- Part IV – Governance Challenges: eHealth Governance in Scotland: A Cross-Sectoral and Cross-National Comparison.- IT Governance in Healthcare Institutions.- IT Governance in Acute Healthcare – A Critical Review of the Current Literature.- The European eHealth Governance – A New Way Forward.