The need to organize more effectively delivery of Health Care Services (in terms of time and distance) on the one hand, and to contain rising health care costs on the other, coupled with major advancements in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have resulted in the increased usage of ICT applications in medicine and health care over the past few decades. ICT have the potential to revolutionize the way medicine is practiced, studied, taught and learned by students and healthcare professionals.

eHealth is the overarching term for the range of tools based on information and communication technologies used to assist and enhance the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and management of health and lifestyle. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines eHealth as “the use, in the health sector, of digital data – transmitted, stored and retrieved electronically – in support of health care, both at the local site and at a distance”.

eHealth covers the interaction between patients and health-service providers, institution-to-institution data transmission, or peer-to-peer communication between patients or health professionals. It includes wide range of digital health-related data management services (health information networks, electronic health records, web-based personal health records), telemedicine services (distant consulting, distant diagnostic and therapeutic manipulation, distant patient monitoring), and multiple medical information delivery services for both health care professionals and community (distant and electronic medical education and training, patients’ self education, and on-line health professionals’ communication).

The focus on eHealth development is driven by major challenges that health care systems around the globe are facing. eHealth is capable of providing effective solution to many of these challenges.

The benefits of eHealth for patients and citizens, for health professionals, and for society as a whole, lie in the following major domains:

• Improved access and quality of health care.
• Increased cost-effectiveness of health care.
• Increased efficiency of health care management.
• Facilitated medical education and research, and increased health literacy of the public.

Thus, eHealth systems and services combined with organizational changes and the development of new skills can deliver significant benefits to the entire community, through improvements in access to and quality of care. It contributes to citizen-centered health systems and to the overall efficacy, efficiency, productivity and sustainability of the health sector.

The introduction of eHealth applications requires multidisciplinary collaboration, with active participation of healthcare and ICT professionals. eHealth Master Plan will allow coordinated efforts by all interested parties in developing and implementing mentioned eHealth applications in Armenia. That will ultimately benefit all interested parties:

• Patients (in terms of universal equitable access to quality care and cost reduction);
• Health care professionals (in terms of productivity, competencies);
• Communities (in terms of public health efficiency and cost containment).

The purpose of the project is to develop a long-term strategic plan for developing and implementing eHealth services in various areas of health sector (eHealth Master Plan). This will include the following aspects:

• Detailed analysis of the current state of healthcare sector in the country.
• Research of international experience in eHealth development.
• Define the role of telecommunication and information technologies in supporting healthcare.
• Find country specific aspects in health policies; define how eHealth will influence existing medical practice, education and research in Armenia;
• Social-economic evaluation of eHealth project for the country;
• Define national eHealth priorities, strategies and roadmaps for coming 5-10 years.
• Define relationship between national healthcare reforms and eHealth.
• Define eHealth services in the various areas of health sector. Propose list of possible eHealth services based on existing telecommunication infrastructure for main hospitals;
• Propose model structure of Hospital Information System (HIS);
• Determine provisional cost of the installation of eHealth infrastructure in one hospital as a model; draw eHealth business plan for one hospital as a model;
• Prepare budget for each stage of development.
• Define national strategy for eHealth – National Program for eHealth, example: “eHealth Foundation Armenia”
• Define the stakeholders and those responsible and authorized for deployment of eHealth infrastructure and components;
• Find optimal balance between legislative measures, consensus based decisions and selection of pilot cases supported by believers;
• Propose structure of national telemedicine network;
• Propose network structure for the capital – Yerevan city;
• Propose list of eHealth services for the region;
• Define national standards for: Core data set, Demographic Data, Health profile, Insurance plans;
• Define national standards for: Authorization, Authentication, Privacy;
• Define national standards for: minimal functional and data requirements of IT solutions for providers (hospitals, health clinics, primary care facilities, primary care physicians, laboratories, pharmacies);
• Instead of revising current resource allocation to national institutions such as MOH, health insurance, medical universities and schools, consider creation of an agency (or institution) with relevant name like Electronic Health Center.