European policy in eHealth

1. European policy in eHealth National discussion forum, ICT for Health Sofia, Bulgaria Diane Whitehouse ICT for Health http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/health/index_en.htm

2. eHealth Communication and Action Plan WHY? • eHealth is not anymore about what will be – there are many real life solutions that have proven to deliver real benefits • There is an added value of collaboration at EU level eHealth deployment (and not only on research) • to learn what has not worked and to exchange experiences • to ensure minimum interoperability conditions to support continuity of care and mobility • to address many regulatory (market), legal and ethical issues in coordinated manner • to provide framework for all the stakeholders to come together at international level that could be used also on national and regional level

3. Main areas of progress (1/ • Establishment of eHealth Working Group and Stakeholders’ group for the follow up of the action plan • Establishment of a roadmap regarding the tasks on interoperability leading to interoperability working paper ( March 2006) to EC Recommendation on eHealth Interoperability (2007) • Launching of projects/studies that address many tasks in the action plan • Best practices (ERA Health, Health Impact, new Study) • Interoperability (I2Health, Semantic Health, RIDE) • Patient identifier (new study, eTen workprogramme ’06) • Legal issues (new Study) • Labelling and certification (Q-REC, new Study)

4. Progress eHealth roadmaps and action plans - feedback • Replies have come from 15 of 25 Member States, as well as Bulgaria and Turkey • 13 of these came from a Ministry of Health (4 from other Ministries) • eHealth info sources: 34 web links • ‘Best’ (or good) practice examples: 35+ projects/pilots

5. Coordination of eHealth Action Plan in Europe Telecom Council EPSCO Council European Commission EHealth Conferences DG INFSO DG SANCO Ministers High Level Participants High Level group on Health Services and Medical care eEurope Advisory group eHealth Working Group Subgroup Health Information and eHealth Stakeholders Group CEN TC 251, ETSI, CENELEC, ISO TC 215, CEN/ISSS, Health practitioners (doctors, nurses, etc.), Patients, Health Managers, Hospitals, Media Industry (EHTEL (ind.) , IHE, COCIR, EAR, EUROREC, HINE), EU projects (COPRAS, SEMANTIC HEALTH, RIDE, i2HEALTH, eHealth ERA…) and studies

6. eHealth ERA CISTRANA - IST ERA III II I SYMBIOMATICSBMI ERA Pilot i2HEALTH Identification doctors/patient Messages/requests SHARE Healthgrid Certification EHR SSA STEPVH CA RIDE Interoperability Semantic Health Interoperability TMA Bridge Interoperability approach INFOBIOMED BIOPATTERN SEMANTIC MINING Long term research Implementation Short term research

7. Economic and productivity Impact of eHealth study Best practices study Legal aspects of eHealth study EHR Certification and accreditation eHealth study Patient ID2 DATA Patient identity study eHealth ERA NET TMA Bridge EHR structure; Interop. approach Certification EHR Specific Support Action I2HEALTH Identification doctors/patient Messages/requests SOFTWARE CEN TC 251 Language : Classification Terminology Coding SSAs Semantic Interoperability

8. Main areas of progress (1) • Development in progress confirmed in most Member States (MS): • UK: Connecting for Health (the National Programme for IT) • Several MS confirmed roadmaps by end 2005 • Planned/on-going major eHealth applications in a few countries: • Health cards, ePrescription, interoperability specifications/data standards.

9. eHealth Action Plan: results to date General, and patient mobility • Launch of i2010 initiative (includes eHealth) • eHealth progress report: publication start 2006 • HLG on health services and medical care: further progress in health information and eHealth • SANCO and INFSO have agreed to co-organise eHealth and health information meetings

10. eHealth Action Plan: results to date eHealth interoperability • Approval of 24-month planning (preparatory document; series of workshops; 2007 Recommendation) • eTen – TMA-Bridge – completed; i2Health – good progress • DG ENTR – successful collaboration; CEN/ISSS/ETSI next steps • IDABC – interoperability and integration

11. eHealth Action Plan: results to date European health insurance cards and health cards • eHIC (European health insurance cards) – continuing progress • Netc@rds – concrete progress; collaboration among MS; includes news partners and new countries

12. eHealth Action Plan: results to date Good or best practices • eHealth IMPACT – case studies underway; coverage at WSIS Tunis, November 2005 • eHealth ERA - launched, website, first deliverables ready, technical review complete, Gastein workshop, HLG (SANCO) workshop • 4 studies: call opened in 2005; studies have started in 2006

13. eHealth Action Plan: results to date Public health portal, and management of health threats • Three workshops convened to ensure appropriate design and content; launch will be in 2006 • MEDIEQ (quality labelling of medical content) project accepted for funding in 2005 • Inter-service consultation on management of health threats and challenges begun, after receiving inputs from Member States

14. eHealth Action Plan: results to date Conferences and special events • eHealth 2005 successfully completed • eHealth 2006 conference launch meeting, October 2005 • EHFG (Gastein), October 2005 – Health-e Europe • World Summit on Information Systems – latest info on eHealth in Europe, good practice • eHealth working group, meetings planned in 2006 • Inter-service group on eHealth, start delayed

15. eHealth 2006 conference • For your diary NOW!! • Prospects and planning for the eHealth 2006 conference which will be held in Malaga, Spain on May 10-12 2006. • Eventual website address:http://www.ehealth2006conference.org

16. eHealth Action Plan: results to date Legal, regulatory, and other issues • Studies, closure October 3 2005 • ESDIS working paper, to be completed circa October 2005 • Liaison with DG EMPL ‘mainstreaming’ of occupational health and safety issues, e.g., on public health portal

17. eHealth action plan – main areas of progress • Will be issuing eHealth interoperability guidelines at EU level (Recommendation in 2007) • Involving all Member States and all relevant stakeholders (firm commitment) • Ensuring political support • Moving towards implementation, along lines of Action Plan • Increasing efficiency; pursuing tangible results - from content, to process, to structure- ensuring cooperation among initiatives - limiting numbers of meetings/WGs

18. Summary of main areas of progress Over next 12 months – major focus on eHealth interoperability • crucial concentration on regional and/or local dimension of eHealth

19. eHealth Action Plan: Quick summary of progress on some actions • National/regional roadmaps (MS, 2005) • ERA Health, presentations at eHealth 2006 conference • Best practice collection, dissemination (EC 2004-2008) • Health Impact, ERA Health, New Study, eTen 2006 • Common approaches for patient identifier (EC+MS, 2006) • New Study, eTen 2006 • Interoperability approaches and guidelines (EC+MS,2006) • TMA Bridge, I2Health, Semantic Health, RIDE, Semantic Mining… • Conformity testing and accreditation (MS 2007) • Q-REC • Legal framework, certification of qualifications (EC+MS,2009) • New Study, 2006

20. Conclusions and Discussion We welcome feedback and questions from all parties, associations, industry and companies, Member States, accession countries diane.whitehouse@cec.eu.int