[A joint blog with my new colleague Tonio Borg]
In Europe we are facing a dilemma: healthcare costs are rising as the public sector faces a spending squeeze. Many older people hold fears over how they will be cared for – while the younger generation worry how they will be able to afford it.
European healthcare has come a long way. There is near universal access to quality care; scientific progress and organised vaccinations have virtually eradicated previously common diseases; and our citizens are enjoying longer lives.
But fundamentally those health systems were designed to deal with a model of acute care, based around stays in hospitals or institutions. That was fine for the 20th century but cracks in the system are beginning to show.
These days, many health conditions are long-term and degenerative. That trend will continue as our population gets older. People with that kind of condition don’t always need the same pattern of care. And they prefer to live independently at home, and avoid constant, time-consuming trips to see the doctor.
So we have to adapt, and digital technology is there to help us change. Whether it’s remote monitoring that lets you be cared for at home, robots to help around the house, or simply mobile apps that empower you to take control of your own healthcare. It’s not science fiction: the solutions already exist, and many of them are “Made in Europe”. They can provide better care at better prices and build an industry for the future.
But there is a leadership gap between “eHealth” technology and patients. The sector has been hesitant to embrace the digital revolution, preferring to stick to traditional methods and models. Politicians have preferred not to upset a system that has worked well in the past.
Launched today, a new European e-Health Action Plan sets out how we can bring digital benefits to healthcare. The slogan is lifting barriers to smarter, safer, patient-centred health services.
And that means giving patients and healthcare workers the skills and confidence to use new technology. It means linking up devices so they can talk to each other, to avoid waste and repetition; investing in research into tomorrow’s personalised medicine. Giving small businesses the support to supply the innovations we need.
As more and more people start to use apps and other devices to take control of their own health information, we must ensure their confidence and trust: by clarifying legal uncertainties over safety, quality and transparency.
But above all, it means biting the bullet and committing to change. It’s happening, but too slowly.
Under our European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, 3000 stakeholders have committed to improve people’s quality of life, in total directly benefiting 4 million Europeans. This is an unorthodox but useful combination of grassroots and EU action. All of these stakeholders realise that working together is better and cheaper than starting from scratch – bringing them together is the EU’s role. And this grassroots approach means we can learn and grow, quicker than waiting for groups of countries to move forward en bloc.
Part of what makes us European is that we believe we owe it to our citizens to offer everyone the best possible healthcare. Today and tomorrow that means working together to build better lives with eHealth technology.
For more details on the action plan, see here.
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I wish Mrs. Kroes Happy Hanukkah!
I think one of the biggest challenges in eHealth is that patients and their carers are more involved in their health situation by sharing knowledge and giving real support. Example: if you get the diagnose dementia, this has no meaning unless your carer knows how to handle the new personel situation with a person with dementia. I am working hard on my part to make this happen!
Dear mrs. Kroes,
It is great that you drawing attention to the affordability of health care. Unfortunately, most of it are BIG words.First of all you have to make a difference between care and cure. Cure is not the problem, we must talk about care. Secondly, the mind set you are showing is exactly not what we need. This way of thinking causes a lot of dependency on healthcare systems, either physical or electronic, where we need the people/patients to be more responsible for their own life. Unfortunately, the message you communicate shows that you live on the top of the Olympus. What we need is realistic, down to earth people who are health care professionals knowing what the needs are, and who acquire the responsibility and funding to do the thing that is needed. Just crying out for ICT is not the why to do it. Big plans disappear in bureaucracy, local initiatives that are successful need to be promoted. Organic, gradual improvement is better than top-down plans as you are promoting. Politicians and managers are not the people that have shown to make a difference. Doctors driven hospitals are generally more efficient and higher quality than managers driven hospitals. Please, learn a lesson from that, and stop the BIG PLANS that tend to fail, because they do not local and cultural differences.