Funen Hospital is a medium size central hospital, placed at the Island; Funen and is part of the health care system in the County of Funen, Denmark, which is responsible for the delivery of health care services to about 500.000 citizens.

Funen Hospital consists of 5 separate units located mainly in the south of Funen, with the main unit placed in Svendborg. One of the hospital units is placed at the Island; Ærø in the sea south of Funen.

The hospital conducts basic treatment within all medical specialities. In addition the hospital maintains research and specialized treatment in specific areas, i.e. within the field of back-diseases. The hospital has in total 382 beds with approximately 30.000 admissions and 21.000 outpatients a year.

Primarily because of the divided structure with units placed in different geographical locations, the top-management of Funen Hospital has early on been attentive to the potential benefits of eHealth-solutions. Applied in the right way, eHealth can contribute to an increased productivity and quality in the health-care services. It can also be an important tool in gaining equal access to health-services for the citizens, especially in rural areas.

During the last decade or so, the hospital has gained experience with different eHealth applications in different medical areas. Besides participating in Baltic eHealth with its focus placed on teleradiology across borders, the hospital is applying and has applied eHealth in a number of other areas such as:

o Diagnosing and treatment over distance through teleconference (video) and transmission of clinical data. This technology is used in areas such as endocrinology (diabetes mellitus), cardiology and treatment of alcoholism.

o Application of videoconference and voice-control in endoscopic surgery.

o Application of intelligent technology (robotics) within the field of physiotherapy and clini-cal biochemistry.

o Teleradiology.

Funen Hospital is also in the future interested in developing and testing various eHealth applications and is open to share our experience with eHealth and would like to play a part in projects and solutions which have an international scope.

If you are interested in hearing more about the eHealth-strategy of Funen Hospital or some of the specific projects, you are welcome to contact Medical Director Peder Jest at pje@shf.fyns-amt.dk or Tel: +45 6320 1001 or Principal Morten Jakobsen at moja@shf.fyns-amt.dk, Tel: 6320 1038