E-Cards

The EU faces many of the same general health issues seen in Eastern partner countries, such as an ageing population, leading to a similar need to optimise and modernise healthcare services. The European Commission has established the Digital Single Market as one of its main priorities, and digital health care services are part of this strategy. The EU has already adopted legislation on medical equipment, data protection, digital identification and IT security that create a great environment for eHealth services. Many EU countries have been quick to adopt eHealth strategies, which led to political commitment and an accelerated and well-orchestrated development of eHealth services, while Eastern partner countries have advanced through many individual – but less concerted – eHealth projects. 

Moreover, the EU has standardised ePrescription and Patient Summary service definitions to enable cross-border pilots between member states. The trend now in the EU is to move towards preparing the eHealth infrastructure to be ready for Artificial Intelligence, genomic data and personalised medicine initiatives.