Description on state-of-the-art of regulation, liability, standardisation of the field of eCare - Description of the content and the functionality of the eHomeCare record - List of users and their expectations about the application; user suggestions about the design

This document describes the result of a thorough study towards the possible development and application of e-services in the home healthcare field (denoted as eHomeCare services). This vast study was essential for the successful start of the Coplintho project, as the design and development of e-services in a fairly new and complex application field such as the home healthcare sector comprises many unknown factors.
The Coplintho consortium set out a discussion and interaction at large with care-givers as well as patients and possible users of future eHomeCare services. This study took more time and effort than originally planned, but the consortium invested the resources needed to come up with concise and valuable results. Literature surveys were done in depth and the available
information analysed. Inclusion criteria were set up in view of a profound and funded choice with respect to the selection of patients for the proof-of-concept demo. The choice was made to base these inclusion criteria on pathologies, although many other user-specific aspects are also taken into the design phase of the proof-of-concept demo.
In parallel to the above a thorough study of the existing juridical framework was performed to reveal how the introduction of e-services in the home healthcare field such as depicted in the Coplintho project should be designed and used to be in line with existing and emerging legal constraints. Within the report a thorough overview and analyses is given of the different legislations involved. It must be noted however that the juridical framework is evolving fast in the domain of e-health and privacy-protection so that evolving or changing legal aspects should be tracked carefully.
The overall study resulted in several so-called use cases for the two selected patient groups (being diabetes and multiple sclerosis) being merely case stories to illustrate possible daily use in real-life scenarios. These use cases have proven to be a very effective tool to bridge between the user-groups and the technical groups within the consortium. It has proven to be a challenge to align and translate in an optimum way the user-driven needs with the technological-driven concepts within the complex application domain of home healthcare. It is clear that the elaboration of the use cases has leveraged to a great extent this precious process.
It should be noted by the reader that the information contained in this study is only valid for the time frame is was conducted within. Some items (such as the juridical framework, the existing preconditions) may change during time as the e-health domain is rapidly evolving.
The information contained in these sections will be updated in the last deliverable of WP1 (D1.2, M24). It is believed by the authors however that many parts of the document can be very useful for other researchers developing e-services of related nature, even beyond the domain of e-health. The consortium is willingly to share experience and research results with other projects / interested parties on request.