The European Commission last week issued a plan of action to address barriers preventing the full use of digital solutions in Europe. Measures covered by the plan include:
- clarifying areas of legal uncertainty
- improving interoperability between systems
- increasing awareness and skills among patients and healthcare professionals
- putting patients at the centre with initiatives related to personal health management and supporting research into personalised medicine
- ensuring free legal advice for start-up eHealth businesses [Editor’s emphasis]
The Commission has also pledged to issue a mHealth (Mobile Health) Green Paper by 2014 addressing quality and transparency issues. EU issues action plan for digital healthcare InnovateUK
This is missing some important issues:
– how to enable and then encourage care service providers to collaborate
– defining the security regime necessary to support users ownership and management of their own health records
– the financial framework necessary to support collaborative care working