Electronic data interchange (EDI) in healthcare - examples of applications

The article covers European experience of using EDI in the healthcare industry. All included examples were monitored and described by the International Healthcare Collaboration Project. The article contains examples of creating national communication structures in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland as well as a few applications from hospitals, that enabled them to increase the effectiveness of their logistic and administrative processes. It also demonstrates how an important proportion of healthcare operational expenses can be saved through: rationalisation, the use both of bar codes and EDI, the unambiguous identification and codification techniques based on internationally accepted standards.