Paolo Barbier 
Centro Cardiologico Fondazione  "Monzino", IRCCS, CNR,
via Parea, 4 - 20138 Milano
Tel.: +39 02 58002.567
Fax:  +39 02 504667
email: pbar@iol.it

Home  |  Introduction

In Italy, the different medical institutions have always (with few exceptions) been late - more culturally than technologically - in grasping the quickly evolving field of informatics. 
The potential of Internet as an  instrument to spread medical information and facilitate the interaction between different professional and scientific areas - though known to many - has not been completely understood and thus used adequately. 

Many are the probable causes of this situation:
1) Incomplete comprehension of this potential by those who have medical organizational responsibilities within medical institutions. 
2) Administrative resistance to balance  the short term costs with the medium term advantages (often underestimated) of informatization .
3) Lack of an informatics strategy, and thus inability to dedicate human and logistic resources to the transition from medical analog to digital technology. 

The prototype of echocardiographic Internet site presented in these pages, with professional, scientific and educational aims, has been obtained independently, utilizing private resources, secondarily to lack of adequate logistics within a more appropriate institutional medical area (hospital). 
However, both the easines with which today simple Internet Web sites may be achieved, and the availability of adequate low cost Web space (the connection cost to the Internet provider), allow projects which may constitute a model to imitate.   

In this respect, this Web site wants to demonstrate the possibility to realize an echocardiographic Internet Web site characterized by : 
a) a scientifc and educational aim related to the personal experience of the Author,
b) the aim to promote the personal professional experience of the Author.