Keynote Speakers at eHealth Week 2011 Call for Significant IT Investments in the Health Systems of the Future

Move From Hospital-centric to Community-wide IT Solutions Will Change the Patient Experience of Healthcare; Delegate Registration in Progress

BUDAPEST, Hungary and BRUSSELS, March 14, 2011 - eHealth Week 2011 (ehealthweek.org/), revealed today the list of
keynote speakers who will address delegates at the "eHealth World-Cup", which
is to be held in Budapest, Hungary on 10-12 May, 2011. Keynotes will be
delivered by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, distinguished professor and Director at
the Center of Complex Networks Research, Northeastern University and
Department of Medicine, Harvard University; Prof. Eric Lepage, EPR Director
at the Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP); Uwe Poettgen, Chief
Information Officer at the Asklepios Hospital Group; and C. Martin Harris,
M.D., M.B.A., Chief Information Officer at the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Madi
Tiik, CEO, Estonian eHealth Foundation. On a political level keynote speeches
will be held by Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and
European Digital Agenda Commissioner, and Dr. Miklos Szocska, Minister of
State for Health of the Hungarian Government in its role as the Presidency of
the Council of the European Union. Registration is now open at
www.ehealthweek.org with Early Bird rates available before April 1st,
2011.

"eHealth Week is the one week a year where the eHealth community of
Europe gathers to advance healthcare through IT," says Jeremy Bonfini,
Executive Vice President for Global Services at HIMSS, who are co-organizing
eHealth Week together with the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the
European Union and the European Commission. "Keynote speakers at eHealth Week
2011 will emphasize on the role of technology in shaping up health systems of
the future. They will discuss how to push information out into the
'eco-system': finding ways to move data from solely within the hospital out
into the community, and from the GP's office, or even the home, to the
electronic medical record (EMR)," Bonfini added.

eHealth Week is described as 'the World Cup of eHealth and healthcare
IT'. All the main players in Europe will be there - many of them hosting
satellite events and programmes around the main conference. A full overview
of the speakers, participants and program as well as delegate registration is
available at www.ehealthweek.org.

Selected keynote speeches:

PL1: Albert Laszlo Barabasi , distinguished Professor and Director,
Center of Complex Networks Research, Northeastern University and Department
of Medicine, Harvard University

In his opening key-note lecture Albert-Laszlo Barabasi will present the
newest results of network research, a more and more popular tool for
understanding complex systems from molecular to social level. This current
scientific research trend discovers general rules of such systems including
health systems and computer networks. His fertilizing ideas put new light on
eHealth development and health policy making.

PL 2: Investing in health systems of the future

Uwe Poettgen, CIO, Asklepios Hospital Group, Germany
The CIO of the largest private hospital chain in Europe will explore how we
might expand hospital processes into telehealth processes and vice versa -
and some of the obstacles, challenges and potential drivers of this process.

PL2: Shared services in healthcare: benefits of a nationwide eHealth
platform

Dr Madi Tiik, CEO, eHealth Foundation Estonia
Estonia now has two years' experience of a nationwide electronic health
record (EHR) system. One year into this process, 80 per cent of prescriptions
were digital. The CIO of the Estonian eHealth Foundation shares his vision of
the successful electronic healthcare system of the future.

PL3: eHealth Governance Process

Clemens Martin Auer, Director General, Ministry of Health, Austria
EU Member States have agreed to strenghen their cooperation in eHealth issues
and a series of high level meetings (State Secretary and or Director General
level) are taking place to agree on which areas such cooperation shall focus
on. The next meeting will take place at the eHealth week. PL3 will allow you
to listen to the latest progresses and decisions taken by them.
Representatives of patients, professionals and industries are also associated
to the initiatives and will be asked to comment on the progress.

PL4: Remote Monitoring - New opportunities for Chronic Disease Management

Martin R Cowie, European Society of Cardiology
eHealth and telemedicine offer some solutions to the CDM challenge, for
example through remote monitoring and telehealth hospitals and doctors can
reach patients and their homes from a distance, even across national borders.

PL6: Pushing health information out of the hospital

Martin Harris, CIO of the Cleveland Clinic
With a definite trend towards patient engagement, how do hospital leaders
manage patient consent, security, and the flow of patient health information
leaving the hospital? The CIO of one of the world's busiest hospitals asks if
global internet portals will pave the way, or if hospitals and governments
will have to build the necessary infrastructure?

For regular updates, please visit the www.ehealthweek.org;
www.worldofhealthit.org and follow us on
twitter.com/EU_ehealthweek

    For further information please contact:

    HIMSS Europe                     European Commission
    Christina Roosen                 Corinne Wenner
    croosen@himss.org                corinne.wenner@ec.europa.eu
    T: +32-2-793-7633                T: +32-2-296-4194

    IT communication (agency)        so2say communications (agency)
    jmiglesias@itcomunicacion.com    armin.scheuer@so2say.com
    T: +34-93-362-10-34              T: +49-30-2191-3610

For further information please contact: HIMSS Europe, Christina Roosen, croosen at himss.org, T: +32-2-793-7633 ; European Commission, Corinne Wenner, corinne.wenner at ec.europa.eu, T: +32-2-296-4194 ; IT communication (agency), jmiglesias at itcomunicacion.com, T: +34-93-362-10-34 ; so2say communications (agency), armin.scheuer at so2say.com, T: +49-30-2191-3610