title: A patient centered electronic health: eHealth system development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical practice and patient-doctor relationship will continue improving while technology is integrated in our everyday life. In recent years the term eHealth landmarked a new era with improved health provider's skills and knowledge, and increased patient participation in medical care activities.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To show why the design and implementation of a healthcare system needs to follow a specific philosophy dictated by the level of eHealth maturity of a country and its citizens.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on the maturity level, an adaptable framework for implementing an Electronic Health System at national level is derived, guided by the Patient Centered Philosophy as defined and introduced by the EU directives. Implementation prerequisites are analyzed together with guiding principles for identifying the maturity level of an organization or country.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cyprus being a small EU country, it can be used as pilot site for the whole Europe, was chosen for this study and its maturity level analysis is presented. Recommendations that determine general steps needed to prepare the ground for an adequate patient-centered national healthcare system are accompanied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The implementation of an integrated Electronic Health Record at National level, as a prerequisite for a patient-centered eHealth environment is evidently demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intelligent Systems Group of Johann Bernoulli Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.|eHealth Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Eirini C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Schiza
authors.affiliation: eHealth Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Kleanthis C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Neokleous
authors.affiliation: Department of Intelligent Systems Group of Johann Bernoulli Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nikolai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petkov
authors.affiliation: eHealth Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Christos N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Schizas
mesh_terms: D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005060:Europe; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D038622:Internationality; D033283:Patient Access to Records; D010358:Patient Participation; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: Electronic Health Record (EHR); Patient-Centered Medicine; Personalized Medicine; eHealth