E-QUALITY IN E-HEALTH Stakeholders' reflections on adressing e-health challenges at the European level Improved Healthcare Through Innovative Solutions Health First Europe E-QUALITY IN E-HEALTH Table of Contents 04 I E-Quality in E-Health Foreword by John Bowis, Honorary President Health First Europe 06 I List of Contributing Organizations 08 I E-Health is About The Patient, Health First Europe (HFE) 1 I Citizens’ E-Health 2 I E-Health and 10 I The main aspects of the e-Health policy of the Health Services European Union and the challenges ahead Dr. Andrzej Jan Rys, 22 I E-Health: Delivering Better, Faster and More Efficient Director Public Health and Risk Assessment Unit, Health Services DG Sanco, European Commission Anna Lefevre Skjöldebrand, Chairwoman of Eucomed’s E-Health Task Force 14 I What Would E-Health Bring to Common Citizens? and Managing Director of Swedish Medtech, The Swedish Dr. Milan Cabrnoch, Medical Technology Industry Association Member of the European Parliament - European Conservatives and Reformists, Member of the Committee 26 I Improved Effectiveness; Implementation of E-Health; on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Better, Faster and More Efficient Health Services David Lloyd Williams, 18 I Patient-Centred E-Health: Helping to Improve Representative European Health Telematics Association Quality of Care through E-Health (EHTEL) Rod Mitchell, International Alliance of Patients Organization (IAPO) 3 I E-Health in Practice 4 I E-Health and 30 I Future of Computer Modeling of Physiology Labor Challenges and Disease in the Virtual Physiological Human and its Application to Medicine 34 I E-quality for e-Safety: a Nurses’ View on e-Health Jos A.E. Spaan, Paul De Raeve, Representative of the European Alliance for Medical and Secretary General – European Federation of Nurses Biological Engineering and Science (EAMBES) Associations (EFN) 38 I Can E-Health Improve Quality of Care in an Ageing Europe? Bert Van Caelenberg, Secretary General - European Federation of Public Service Employees (EUROFEDOP) 40 I Health First Europe Recommendations 41 I List of Contributors * All articles were written in September – November 2010 03 Health First Europe E-QUALITY IN E-HEALTH E-Quality in E-Health Foreword services look like in 20 years? Will the The EU is moving fast on its Digital Agenda Strategy, which it recently adopted. Among IT revolution complete our healthcare the Commission’s proposed actions are: landscape? Will a simple mirror be able to send accurate information to a remote screening centre to give us an accurate John Bowis, diagnosis? Will patients be able to cope Honorary President Health First Europe with the new challenges? How will professionals process all the information? How will personalised medicine and new 2020 technologies transform our lives? • Widespread 2015 deployment We are still at a preliminary stage in this of telemedicine Improved Healthcare Through Innovative Solutions by 2020 exciting path of reform and discovery. • Having secure online medical access by 2015 Health First Europe wants to put the 2012 emphasis on patient-centred healthcare and we welcome all initiatives that foster • Interoperability of electronic medical this goal. records by 2012 Some specialists confirm that e-health can E-Health help tackle some rising challenges facing Europe’s health sectors, such as an ageing population, healthcare inequalities and patient mobility. A framework for Health First Europe wants to put the people-centred health systems based on publication e-health can reduce costs to tackle rising emphasis on patient-centred healthcare demand for services and put patients As Europe moves forward through the 2020 strategy on sustainable economic and providers on a level playing field in and we welcome all initiatives that foster growth, it is imperative to remember that quality healthcare is a vital investment for terms of accessing healthcare, thereby reducing inequalities. this goal. the future of its citizens. Within the EU, the development of e-health Indeed, as Health First Europe’s Honorary So we can see many challenges ahead falls within the framework of the 2004 Despite these achievements, we are HFE recognizes these challenges and President, I strive to uphold one of our and the European Union, with its limited communication of an action plan for aware of the many challenges that lay through our actions, we seek to make the core messages: that “health equals health competencies, is looking into a European e-health area and more recent ahead. There is an urgent need for coming decade of healthcare in Europe wealth.” Health is a key productive factor those challenges. On one hand, they legislation on telemedicine, interoperability more member state coordination, better truly patient-centred. in terms of employment, innovation and are seeking to improve certainty on of electronic record systems and safe and security, streamlined regulation and economic growth. patients’ mobility and also into how efficient healthcare through e-health. greater leadership by health authorities in demographic challenges can impact on order for wider and faster implementation Yours Sincerely, As we look to the future of healthcare and the sustainability of our welfare systems. of a genuine European e-health area. the impact of the economic crisis on our On the other hand, they want to leverage John healthcare systems, our governments innovation and take leadership in the are responding by analysing new ways IT sector as applied to the health sector. John Bowis of delivering healthcare services Honorary President Health First Europe from a cost-effective perspective while Politicians have started looking at future simultaneously respecting the principles solutions for the improvement of healthcare of quality and safety. systems. What will our health and care 05 Health First Europe E-QUALITY IN E-HEALTH List of Contributing Organizations For further information on the contributing organizations to the e-Quality in e-Health publication see below: European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science (EAMBES) www.eambes.org European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN) www.efnweb.org European Health Telematics Association www.ehtel.org Eucomed www.eucomed.org EUROPEAN European Federation of Public Service Employees Secretary General (EUROFEDOP) COMMISSION www.eurofedop.org Dr. Andrzej Jan Rys, Public Health and Risk Assesment Director, DG Sanco, European Commission European Commission - DG SANCO, Public Health and Risk Assessment Unit ec.europa.eu Dr. Milan Cabrnoch, Member of the European Parliament, European Conservatives and Reformists political group, Member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety www.europarl.europa.eu International Alliance of Patients Organization (IAPO) www.patientsorganizations.org Health First Europe www.healthfirsteurope.org 07 Health First Europe E-QUALITY IN E-HEALTH E-Health is About The Patient E-health has the potential to promote a philosophy where patients are put first through innovation. E-health also bares a signature of solidarity, building Moreover, another feature of modern the technological bridge to reach its Improved Healthcare Through Innovative Solutions patients because it considers timing and technologies is technical interoperability, health information availability a must for a healthier Europe. which should be seen as a future ‘must Overall, e-health reduces the risk of error do’ so that information becomes not only in both prescription issue and processing, The European Union and, in particular, the European Commission have been very empowering patients and optimizing mobile but accessible. active especially since 2004 on e-health initiatives. services and continuity of care. However, when looking towards the future of This topic is very complex and should be defined as a tool that serves to improve the EU healthcare policy, usability and In this sense, the two major problems a success and that in spite of being an quality of patient care. When we talk about e-health, we talk about new innovative accessibility stand out as barriers of implementation which need to be tackled identified in Chapter 1, data protection advanced technological tool e-health is ways of delivering healthcare, enhancing prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and with more urgency as we are facing and interoperability raise a common set still in its infancy and has even greater managing health and lifestyle. many demographic and health-related of questions that need to be answered potential for innovation. Hence, this challenges. in the future: what type of legislation is chapter explains in specific terms what needed to ensure simultaneously data e-health does and most importantly what The complexity and the broadness of e-health (from prevention, to screening, to In Chapter 1 we understand why protection and interoperability, what it could do in practice. telemonitoring…) and the different stakeholders concerned by all its utilities, made health information should be made funding should be allocated for this and this publication necessary. Health First Europe is an alliance of multiple leading available directly to patients and why how can we bypass connectivity issues? Last but not least, Chapter 4 puts the topic health stakeholders that wants to take part in the ongoing discussions about electronic information is the best into perspective, telling of present and managing healthcare services. means of information sharing. A few Chapter 2