Nationwide Health Data Management System: a novel approach for integrating biomarker measurements with comprehensive health records in large populations studies.

The nation-wide electronic health record database acts as an interoperable repository of health data obtained throughout citizen contacts with health care providers. This system improves accessibility for citizens and researchers to health data with the ability to assign context to disease development. In that system, individual patients who are members of the large population-based health database can be assessed as individuals or as a population in prospective studies of prospective diseases.

Patient opportunities in the Estonian Electronic Health Record System.

Estonia is the first country which has implemented a nationwide electronic health record system and gives full access to its citizens. This provides new opportunities to citizens, healthcare providers and e-health developers. Combining health data, citizens' self added health and welfare data, decision support and possibilities of service oriented architecture of the Estonian Electronic Health Record System - a new era of e-health services can begin.

Rules and access rights of the Estonian integrated e-Health system.

There should be a clear understanding that when implementing an electronic health record system (EHR), one of the hardest problems we have to solve is the access rights. In Estonia this process lasted for three years and involved all stakeholders of the healthcare sector. Special ethical committee was established to advise the decision makers and doctors to help them understand the ethical dilemmas from the patient's and society's point of view. In this article you will find a short overview of the access rights of the system, roles of the healthcare systems' employees. Descriptions of some specific situations like underage patients and representation of patient with restricted active legal capacity.