Exploring the role of ICT in the provision of integrated care-Evidence from eight countries

This research aimed to identify the role of telehealthcare in the provision of integrated care in thirty-one experiences across eight different European countries, namely: Denmark, Estonia, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the UK. Experiences were analysed from three perspectives: diffusion of innovations, governance and impact, which led to the identification of a set of drivers and barriers for widespread deployment. The analysis also found that telehealthcare developments were strongly in line with developments towards the delivery of integrated care and thus support this process. Factors which contribute to the successful delivery of integrated care, such as aligned incentives, sound governance and evidence consolidation, were identified across the most successful experiences. Although the decision to mainstream telehealthcare will remain a value judgement, the analysis of best practices across experiences allowed us to identify factors which could enable decision makers to assess both the state of maturity of the health and social care environments and their readiness to scale up. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.