Technology 'becomes commonplace to deliver health services'
COPENHAGEN, March 10, 2016
The use of technology has become commonplace to deliver health services and public health improvements, such as electronic health records, in the member states in the WHO European region, according to a report.
The new report on e-health, entitled 'From innovation to implementation - e-Health in the WHO European Region,' revealed that tangible progress has been made, with clear benefits for many countries
It indicated a trend towards strategic engagement, although some countries have weak or no governance, legislation and legal protection in e-health.
This can lead to missed opportunities and inefficiencies that put lives at risk and can also leave e-health open to commercial exploitation, while public health authorities miss out on the benefits, it said.
E-health has been defined as any activity in which an electronic means is used to deliver information, resources and services related to health.
It covers many domains, including electronic health records, telehealth, mobile health (m-Health) and health-related use of e-Learning, social media, health analytics and “Big Data”.
Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe, said: “The 21st century has swept in on a wave of technology, bringing with it a huge range of possibilities for innovation in health. In many countries, e-Health is revolutionizing health care delivery and the health information needed to support it.
"Patients are more and more empowered because they have access to information and advice. This is improving the quality of health care and also challenging the traditional roles of health care professionals.
"E-health saves lives and money; yet, despite many inspiring examples of progress, this report makes it clear that e-Health is not being adopted evenly across the Region. Stronger investment in e-Health is needed in order to achieve the Health 2020 policy objectives.”
The report described why governments should take action on e-health and provide a clear governance structure to oversee implementation, legislation, clinical registries, legal protection and other issues.
The report has called for sustained funding, reimbursement and defined standards for e-Health.
Health analytics and Big Data hold significant potential for health, but this potential is not being explored fast enough, and few policies are available to support progress in this area, said the report.
Currently, only six countries have a national policy or strategy regulating the use of Big Data in the health sector, and few regulate the use of Big Data by private companies. When public health authorities do not step in, commercial organisations will be quick to exploit the potential of the health sector.
The report also found that as much as 93 per cent of member states (42 countries) have made public funding available for e-Health programmes, showing the strong commitment of governments for further development in the sector.
About 81 per cent of member states (35 countries) reported that their health care organisations are using social media to promote health messages as part of health campaigns, while 91 per cent reported that individuals and communities use social media to learn about health issues.
Meanwhile, about 80 per cent of member states have legislation to protect the privacy of individual health-related data in electronic health records – an increase of nearly 30 per cent since 2009. - TradeArabia News Service
