EU sets stage for expansion of telemedicine across continent
By Brian
Monday, February 23, 2009
The European Commission has given the go-ahead to build a telemedicine “platform” that will enable closer cooperation between patients and health care providers in planning for a future expansion of telemedicine across the European Union.
The platform was one of the goals set out in an EC communique last November that detailed the various steps that would be needed to boost the use of telemedicine, which is still limited in most parts of the 27-member EU.
The technology is considered vital to providing good health care for the EU population, which is rapidly ageing. One-third is expected to be over the age of 65 in 2005, compared to just 16 percent four years ago.
An EU-wide platform will allow member states to share information on current national legislative frameworks that are relevant to telemedicine, as well as proposals for new regulations, the EC said. It will also help increase acceptance of telemedicine services among users by making information about their effectiveness and cost more available.
“Ultimately, the platform will help us to prepare a set of recommendations on how to involve health professionals and patients in the design, validation and implementation of eHealth,” said Artur Furtado, project officer at the EC’s Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs.
The Commission expects to publish an analysis of the EU legal framework that governs telemedicine, followed by an assessment from all the states by the end of 2011 about what will be needed to adapt their national regulations to allow for wider access to telemedicine.
Also by the end of 2011, the EC expects to issue a policy strategy on how to ensure interoperability, quality and security of telemonitoring systems that will be used throughout the EU to help manage chronic diseases.
The EC said it will set up a large scale telemonitoring pilot project some time in 2010.
