Interoperability in digital electrocardiography after the openECG project

At a time of rising demands for interoperability in eHealth, OpenECG was funded by the EU to promote standards&open data formats in digital electrocardiography. Driving forces for OpenECG are patient mobility, regional networks, continuity of care, and the vision of the life-long EHR. The number of OpenECG members is steadily increasing, to reach 281 (203 from Europe) in 42 counties in October 2004. A programming contest, a members' mailing list, data sets, specifications, and tutorials combined with online services such as the help desk, converters, content&format validation, etc., bring users, manufacturers, and integrators to the portal. In this paper, a recent questionnaire distributed to OpenECG members gives the opportunity to discuss OpenECG-related activities and prospects, in the frame of global trends&challenges in eHealth standardization, interoperability testing, technology assessment, and quality labeling for medical devices and EHR systems.