The 2010 Symposium of the European Health Telematics Association, the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA), featured a panel discussion on how regional challenges can be addressed by eHealth. The panel was hosted by Gerard Comyn of the French telemedicine association CATEL and former head of the European Commission’s ICT for Health Unit.

“We need Europe to develop a long-term strategy for keeping eHealth in fashion,” said panelist Kurt-Ake Hammarstedt of the Norrbotten Country Council of Sweden. “The keys are involvement, integration and innovations,” he said, which will lead to eHealth solutions being needs rather than technology-driven.

Celia Gómez González of the Ministry of Health in Andalucía, Spain, said that 99% of the region’s population had a single electronic health record. The system handles more than 280 million ePrescriptions and 90 million appointments every year. For every one hundred euro invested, the return is euro 277in socio-economic benefits.

“The success of the system is thanks to the involvement of 400 healthcare professionals in its development,” González said, pointing out that in future, nurses would also be much more involved in Andalucía’s eHealth strategy.

NHS 24: Avoiding the iceberg

George Crooks of the NHS 24 in Scotland, UK, said that rather than “rearranging the deckchairs of the Titanic, we are trying to avoid the iceberg” by implementing a National Telehealth Strategy.

“At a time when demand for health services is increasing, we are facing financial cutbacks. And we are losing skilled young and graduate professionals to Australia and New Zealand,” he said.

Telehealth can help face these challenges, according to Crooks. “The most underused resource is the telephone. Even in the poorer communities, everybody has a phone – and digital television, too, is widespread. The challenge is to find the right channels to address the citizens,” he said. He also pointed out that telehealth should never be made available through one single channel. “You will have to use at least three channels to achieve success.”

The 2010 Symposium of the European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL) is currently taking place in Brussels (22-23 November, 2010). It provides a platform for regions all over the continent to share their experiences in the deployment of eHealth and the organization of healthcare with the aid of information technologies.

Source: HealthTech Wire