For years, COCIR has built strong competences in eHealth and has pushed this technology as one of the most efficient ways to promote integrated care. There is compelling evidence that healthcare combined with ICT technology is resulting in better access, reducing health inequalities, ensuring better quality of products and services while driving cost-efficient ways to achieve more sustainable healthcare systems in Europe and beyond.
COCIR welcomes the recent EU-US Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which expresses an official willingness to cooperate on eHealth. Interoperability and education of healthcare professionals are at the centre of this agreement. This is an important milestone for the industry, giving potential to boost the eHealth market for EU companies wishing to expand their business in the US and vice versa.
A lot of eHealth activities are anticipated for 2011 and later: (1) The newly adopted Directive on patients rights in cross border healthcare sets out for the first time the legal framework for eHealth in Europe. This is a premiere, which should encourage the development and adoption of electronic patient records throughout Europe. (2) The eHealth Governance Initiative will take off in 2011 promising to cover a lot and accelerating the deployment of eHealth solutions, (3) the forthcoming eHealth week in Budapest in May 2011) and (4) the revamp of the data protection legal framework in Europe will hopefully clarify the rules around the use and processing of personal data in the EU and reinforce citizens’ confidence in eHealth and electronic patient records.
COCIR has made some constructive recommendations to ensure that rights to privacy and patient safety go hand in hand in the forthcoming legal framework. (5) A forthcoming research framework programme (FP8) on eHealth: COCIR welcomes such developments and has invited the Commission to support research for eHealth in the most promising areas. (6) Further developments forecasted on minimum patient data set, patient registries and efficient link to EHR. (7) Last but not least, COCIR is involved in several EU funded projects such as “Renewing health”, “Chain of trust”, “eHealth Innovation”... All these activities in which COCIR is involved is a testimony to COCIR’s competences over the years... All good reasons to be happy in this new year...