The Directorate General for Medical Care Providing (Direction Générale de l'Offre de Soins, DGOS) of the French Ministry of Health has officially launched the Digital Hospital Program, according to an announcement of the Ministry 30 November 2011.
The Digital Hospital Program defines the national strategy on hospital information management systems for 2012 – 2016, including priorities of the administration and operational goals. Its aim is to support all providers of care, both public and private, in a modernization process based on implementation of information and communication technologies.
The key elements of the strategy had been reviewed during a steering committee meeting in November last year. The four main tiers are governance and information systems; stakeholder competences; industry offerings; and financing. Achievements of the individual hospitals in the context of this modernization program will be measured by maturity indicators which are currently under discussion.
The program priorities encompass three technical and organizational infrastructure prerequisite targets and five functional priorities. Infrastructure aspects covered are identity and mobility, reliability and availability, and confidentiality. Achievements in these areas are required as a prerequisite for funding of technology implementation in these functional areas: medical imaging, biology, and pathology; the electronic, interoperable patient record; electronic prescriptions supporting treatment plans; use of resources and the patient; and medical-economical management. Hospitals can aim to achieve targets, to be measured by the indicators, either for individual functional areas, or all of them.