Primary care physicians' communication networks in central Europe

The complexity of the health care system is increasing. More and more information is being sent between, for example, hospital departments and general practitioners. The demands are growing as to the timeliness and quality of the information sent. The future must be seen to lie in an electronic communication network. The European Commission, under the Fourth European Framework of the INCO-COPERNICUS programme, sponsored the PRIMACOM (PRIMAry care physicians' COMmunication network) project (PL961090). The objective of PRIMACOM was to establish a regional health care network in regions in Hungary and Slovenia. In the project, experience from Denmark and Italy has been used, together with European standards for the exchange of discharge letters. PRIMACOM has paved the way for other implementation projects and has been supporting dissemination of the regional health care network technology. This implies a better service for patients, higher professional standards and a more efficient health care sector.