The inaugural Global eHealth Forum, a successor to the Baltic eHealth Conference, opened today in Hamburg, Germany. More than 200 delegates have already registered for the event, making it one of the highlights on the annual eHealth events calendar from the outset.

”The time for eHealth has come,“ said Dr. Stephan Schug, Chief Medical Officer for the European Health Telematics Associations (EHTEL). He explained that a “small“ country like Slovenia had managed to roll out health cards to all of its citizens.  “We know it can be done in small countries. So why can’t we do it in Germany?“ he asked. ”Let us use the Global eHealth Forum to exchange information among all stakeholders both globally and, especially, in Europe.“

EHTEL has teamed up with IBM and the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce to organize the Global eHealth Forum (GEF) in collaboration with Asklepios, Europe’s largest private hospital group.

“eHealth is a global issue,“ said Dr. Thomas M. Schünemann, Vice President, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. “It allows patients to be treated in isolated areas, a patient’s medical history to be made available at any point in the healthcare chain and foreign medical professionals to be trained without even having to leave their country. The Global eHealth Forum is a platform for exchanging ideas and concepts among experts from different nations.“

He underlined the fact that nearly 500 companies in Hamburg were active in the field of eHealth, generating 270,000 jobs in the northern region of Germany.

The GEF featured sessions by Flora Giorgio of the European Commission, who presented the European Digital Agenda on health. From the United States, Harry Reynolds, Chair of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, presented the U.S. Health Reform, which provides stimulus funds for the meaningful use of health IT solutions – electronic medical records in particular. Speakers from New Zealand and South Korea added to the global character of this two–day event.

“We have always thought internationally, cross-border. After three Baltic Conferences, we understood that we needed to act globally. We must discuss successful strategies from countries around the world,“ said Ljubisav Matejevic, founder of the Global eHealth Forum. Later today, he will deliver a welcome speech at the Consulate of the United States, where the GEF will host its evening reception.

The second day of the conference will be focusing entirely on the eHealth achievements of the Asklepios Hospital Group, which with 100 facilities, 40 day hospitals and 22,000 beds provides healthcare to every second hospital patient in the city of Hamburg.

The next Global eHealth Forum in Hamburg will take place from October 11-13, 2011.

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Source: HealthTech Wire for The Global E-Health Forum

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