RIDE Project

AUTHORS: Dogac A*, Namli T, Yuksel M

INSTITUTIONS: Software R&D Center, Dept. of Computer Eng., Middle East Technical University

BACKGROUND: RIDE is a roadmap project for interoperability of eHealth systems leading to recommendations for actions and to preparatory actions at the European level. Currently, RIDE progresses successfully with harmonization of different perspectives by its nine partners spread over Europe.

OBJECTIVE: RIDE roadmap prepares the ground for future actions as envisioned in the action plan of the eHealth Communication COM 356 (1) by coordinating various efforts on eHealth interoperability in member states and the associated states.

METHODS: In the RIDE Project, a systematic roadmapping process is followed. First, surveys on the state-of-the-art are performed which covered standardization efforts for providing semantic interoperability in the Health domain. In parallel to this, the current state of eHealth interoperability in the EU Member states as well as US and Canada are investigated. Then the interoperability requirements of applications in the eHealth domain are investigated to determine the goals and challenges, where the "State-of-the-Art" and the "Requirement Analysis" provided the necessary input. In order to visualize the goals and to see how the current requirements can be addressed in the future, a set of visionary scenarios are developed. Next, the gaps that exist between "as-is" situation and the desired future description identified in the RIDE vision statement ("to-be" situation) are identified. This is supported by a migration strategy for the legacy eHealth applications. On the way to achieving the roadmap, RIDE project also analyzed the trends and opportunities in the healthcare IT, and documented the limitations of current policies and strategies. The latest public deliverable by RIDE Consortium presents proposals to eHealth standardization bodies. All of these documents are available from the RIDE web page (2).

RESULTS: Built upon all these work, so far two versions of the RIDE Roadmap and one version of the Guidelines to Member States have been delivered. The work on RIDE roadmap is still progressing and in this talk, these efforts will be presented. The work established is totally inline with the Draft Recommendation of the Commission on eHealth Interoperability (3). The final RIDE Roadmap will embody clear principles for the organizational, political and legal framework, architectural interoperability, monitoring and evaluation that are necessary for a well-established European Health Network. These principles will then be mapped to the technical interoperability framework providing the minimum set of functionalities for a connected network of networks.

CONCLUSION: To conclude, this talk will present the latest developments achieved by the RIDE Project with special focus on the ongoing work for final version of the RIDE Roadmap and Guidelines to Member States, in which clear interoperability principles that are applicable in regional, national and European levels are identified.

REFERENCES:
1. Commission of the European Communities. COM (2004) 356 final: e-Health - making healthcare better for European citizens: An action plan for a European e-Health Area. April 2004.
2. RIDE Consortium. Public Deliverables of RIDE Project. http://www.srdc.metu.edu.tr/webpage/projects/ride/modules.php?name=Deliverables
3. Commission of the European Communities. Draft Recommendation of the Commission on eHealth Interoperability. July 2007.