(By Alessandra Briganti) In the light of the experience gained during the COVID-19 emergency, and, with cyberattacks multiplying, European governments must commit to adopting digital solutions that can be used across the whole EU and take a crucial step towards the creation of a real healthcare Union, a new study has concluded. This can be achieved by seizing the unprecedented funding opportunities offered by the Next Generation EU programme, as well as by structural funds and programmes such as EU4Health, Digital Europe and Horizon Europe, according to the study by ESPON programme, which specializes in regional research.
The document contains a thorough analysis of the current situation and of the action necessary to advance towards the digital transformation of healthcare, going from cross-border data sharing, to developing digital innovation ecosystems and regional cooperation.
The researchers underlined, in particular, the central role of data in the creation of secure, efficient and sustainable health systems, as well as interoperability, namely the capacity of two or more electronic healthcare systems to exchange data within a compatible legal framework.
One of the examples given in the study was that of the 20 tracking apps developed by 13 member States to curb the spread of COVID.
Thanks to a system set up by the European Commission, these apps, which had been downloaded by 30 million people in the EU up to October 2020, work perfectly across borders to give warnings, prevent contagion and track contacts, while respecting privacy and data security.
The study also contained other examples, not linked to emergency situations, such as the electronic prescription that allows European citizens to ask for medicines in a pharmacy in another EU country thanks to the transmission of an e-prescription by their home State or of an electronic health record that allows doctors to access, in their own language, essential information on a patient when the person comes from another country and there is a language barrier.
Up to now only seven States have started to implement these systems (Croatia, Malta, Portugal, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Czech Republic), while other 18 have agreed to develop similar ones that connect their electronic healthcare systems to the EU's common information and communication technology infrastructure.
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