eHealth Governance Initiative

Duration: 2011-2014
Status: running non EPF-led project
Funding programmes: The project is supported by two different EU financing instruments, a Joint Action under the EU Public Health Programme and a Thematic Network under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme-ICT strand.

What is the project about?

The European eHealth Governance Initiative (eHGI) supports cooperation between Member States at Political Governance levels and eHealth Stakeholders. The eHGI ultimately aims at improving the health status of European citizens, the quality and continuity of care and the sustainability of European Health Systems. By improving eHealth governance, through the coordination of the Member States and the European eHealth policies, an interoperable eHealth structure will be built within the EU.The eHGI will work very closely with the High-Level-eHealth-Governance-Group (State Secretaries and Director Generals) also called Network Art. 14 (of the Directive 2011/24/EU) to ensure effective links and synergies between the political decision making level and the results of more technically oriented work.

Project’s Objectives 

The overall objective is to contribute actively to the shaping of the eHealth political agenda at EU level, with a specific focus on interoperability. Member States aim at achieving Interoperability and increasing the quality and efficiency of care by strengthening their cooperation at High Political Level to get support in how to deploy eHealth services also across borders.

Expected results

The project is expected to create a European coordination platform, contributing to a single European eHealth area through streamlined policy, uptake, trust, and awareness in using ICT in health care sector.

Interoperability roadmap, constituting a concrete strategy in building eHealth network within MS and in Europe, will represent one of the main health policy instruments establishing the factual basis for decision making in the eHealth domain.

The project will speed up the adoption process of encryption and electronic signature mechanism through building security and data protection framework, addressing thus identification, authentication and role-based authorization needs inevitable for an enhanced security in health care sector between health care professionals and patients.

The eHGI will make valuable contributions to the EU-wide implementation of EU objectives set in the Digital Agenda, Directive on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare and within the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

EPF's Role

EPF is a member of the Executive Committee and is co-leader of the Work Package dedicated to Trust and Acceptability. The general objective is to provide stakeholders' representatives with the means and the opportunities to discuss and identify possible ways to enhance eHealth users’ trust and acceptability. The final aim is to make proposals to EU Member States representatives as well as to the European Commission, as appropriate, on how the needs of users should be best taken into account in the development of European and national eHealth strategies.

Impact on the Patients’ community

The eHGI will support the setup of a European eHealth environment for the benefit of European patients, e.g. support and guidance for implementation, deployment and use of eHealth services throughout national health care systems, increasing patient safety and quality, better use of health care resources.

 

 

 

Page last modified: 28 August 2012