eAmbulance – an Even Better Ambulance Service

Boriss Gubaidulin is the eAmbulance project manager at the Estonian eHealth Foundation.

A few issues back, HEI wrote about the successful ambulance business of Estonia. In the medium and long-term, we can also talk about the successful eAmbulance solutions applied in Estonia, and the example Estonia has set for others beyond its borders.
The health care system is facing two big challenges – cost-effectiveness and the quality of care and treatment. ICT (information and communication technology) is becoming an indispensable tool in health care, enhancing health care services and improving the quality of clinical consultation. The development of medical information technology and telematics in health care means that databases can be created and integrated with clinical treatment, epidemiological surveillance and preventive medicine.
At the moment, large countries, such as the USA and others, are investing huge amounts in health care ICT, in order to achieve a high level of ICT in health care. It must be pointed out that success does not actually depend on the number of doctors or hospitals using electronic medical records or other ICT solutions. Instead, success is achieved when clinical results improve; when everyone learns which method and treatment is effective and which one is not – whereas this is achieved in days, not in decades.

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