eHealth is an overarching term used today to describe the application of information and communications technologies in the health sector. It encompasses a whole range of purposes from purely administrative through to health care delivery. For example: within the hospital care setting, eHealth refers to electronic patient administration systems; laboratory and radiology information systems; electronic messaging systems; and, telemedicine -- teleconsults, telepathology, and teledermatology, to name a few within the home care setting, examples include teleconsults and remote vital signs monitoring systems used for diabetes medicine, asthma monitoring and home dialysis systems within the primary care setting, eHealth can refer to the use of computer systems by general practitioners and pharmacists for patient management, medical records and electronic prescribing. A fundamental building block of all these applications is the Electronic Health Record, which allows the sharing of necessary information between care providers across medical disciplines and institutions. Other important uses of eHealth are found in the areas of continuous medical education and public health awareness and education.
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