Connecting practices: ICT infrastructures to support integrated care

Good communication across organizational and professional boundaries is arguably the most crucial aspect to successful integrated care programs. Effective integration of care requires (as a minimum) that health care professionals share information about – and with – patients at appropriate points in the care or treatment process. This, however, will only be possible if the necessary infrastructural arrangements – such as shared patient records, regional collaboration, and a clear, transparent incentive structure are in place. Consequently, the integration of care calls for investments in supporting infrastructures, and it is increasingly hard to imagine integrative initiatives without a strong ICT (information and communication technology) component.