Electronic platform for cross-facility cooperation

In Austria, as elsewhere, integrated healthcare plays a major role in the national healthcare strategy as laid down in the Austrian Healthcare
Structure Plan. Long before the ELGA national EHR* scheme, two large hospital operators pioneered in exchanging patient data across institutions and regions.

Exchanging medical data electronically between healthcare providers is indispensable for patient-centric treatment across specialties and facility borders. In Austria, the implementation of a nation-wide electronic health record called ELGA is finally in full swing. By 2017, hospitals, physicians, care facilities and pharmacies are expected to meet the technical prerequisites for participation in ELGA. But the two largest private, non-profit hospital operators in Austria, the religious order hospital groups Barmherzige Br