What is the problem? Sustainability of healthcare systems is at stake

Increasing demands from patients, a rising spread of chronic diseases, the impact of an ageing population, together with scarcer human and financial resources are putting sustainability of healthcare systems at risk.

Why is EU action needed? Patients' empowerment and deployment of telemedicine services are key to ensuring the sustainability of healthcare systems

Patients' access to their healthcare data increases empowerment, participation and responsibility, makes relationships with healthcare services more effective and enables mobility. As active players, patients gain in autonomy, quality and safety of care, and can improve their lifestyles.

Telemedicine services are crucial to taking better care of chronic diseases patients, including elderly patients and of people in remote areas and to respond to the shortage of healthcare professionals and lack of financial resources.

DAE action 75 will also contribute to the delivery of the European Innovation Partnership in the field of active and healthy ageing, proposed under the Innovation Union flagship.

Everybody will benefit

Citizens: have access to safer and better care with greater choice and new online services.

Health providers: are able to monitoring ambulatory patients more closely and use their time more efficiently

Health Authorities: by using telemedicine are able to use their resources more efficiently, while patients' having access to their records will lead to greater empowerment ensuring better care.

Industry: New markets for personal health & wellness management will emerge

What will the Commission do?:

By the end of 2010:

• Use the large scale pilot "Renewing Health" to raise awareness of telemedicine benefits and make use of lessons learned for future policy initiatives
• Launch FP7 Call 7 objective 5.3 (access to personal healthcare records) and 5.1 (mHealth) and include telemedicine objectives in the next CIP (Competitiveness and innovation Framework Programme) work programme

In 2011:

• Implement the above projects and pilots
• Launch a call under CIP ICT PSP WP 2011 to support pilots aiming at enabling secure patients' access to their records.
• Launch a call under CIP ICT PSP WP 2011 to build consensus among experts on how to lift the barriers to telemedicine deployment
• Publish the staff working paper on "Applicability of existing EU legal framework to telemedicine services"
• Launch a new eHealth Action plan 2012-2020, in which the issues are expected to be addressed.
• Follow the legislative process of the proposal for a Directive on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare and ensure implementation

Contact:

Peteris.zilgalvis@ec.europa.eu