title: Biomedical research in a Digital Health Framework.
abstract: This article describes a Digital Health Framework (DHF), benefitting from the lessons learnt during the three-year life span of the FP7 Synergy-COPD project. The DHF aims to embrace the emerging requirements--data and tools--of applying systems medicine into healthcare with a three-tier strategy articulating formal healthcare, informal care and biomedical research. Accordingly, it has been constructed based on three key building blocks, namely, novel integrated care services with the support of information and communication technologies, a personal health folder (PHF) and a biomedical research environment (DHF-research). Details on the functional requirements and necessary components of the DHF-research are extensively presented. Finally, the specifics of the building blocks strategy for deployment of the DHF, as well as the steps toward adoption are analyzed. The proposed architectural solutions and implementation steps constitute a pivotal strategy to foster and enable 4P medicine (Predictive, Preventive, Personalized and Participatory) in practice and should provide a head start to any community and institution currently considering to implement a biomedical research platform.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cano
authors.forename: Magí
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lluch-Ariet
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gomez-Cabrero
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalko
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cascante
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tegnér
authors.forename: Felip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Miralles
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roca
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005060:Europe; D055991:Health Records, Personal; D006801:Humans; D016730:Program Development; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012107:Research Design; D012984:Software; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000379:methods*