EHealth informatics workforce challenges for Europe

There is an increasing demand for informatics human resources from major ehealth developments aimed at supporting more effective healthcare in many countries. Focus to date has been on the standards required to describe ehealth applications and solutions; with sporadic attention to the workforce necessary to deliver them. There are challenges to ensuring that the ehealth informatics staff involved in production and operation of such ehealth systems are 'fit to practice' professionals and their competences can be clearly defined. There are currently different levels of understanding, quantification and definition of the existing and projected workforce requirements across Europe and in the USA. This paper highlights some of the issues to be considered across Europe in moving towards a situation where the limitations to appropriately skilled staff being deployed wherever necessary are reduced and free mobility of the workforce can be enabled. © 2011 The authors and IOS Press.