While many European countries are still debating the potential of e-health and whether or not, and how, to get started, Finnish political commitment to e-health dates back to the mid-1990s.

Portuguese e-health policy is divided into three action lines – health information networks, on-line health services and patient smartcards.

Austria's healthcare system is the second largest amongst the German speaking countries, employing 210,000 doctors and nurses across private practices and 264 hospitals.

The main drive behind Italy's adoption of a national e-health programme has been modernisation of its healthcare system.

E-Health Europe outlines some of the key trends shaping the development of e-health in Germany, Europe's largest healthcare system. E-Health Europe's contributing editor Philipp Graetzel reports.

France, one of the top three economies in Europe, has embarked on an ambitious national healthcare IT programme based on electronic records and patient smart cards.