EU4Digital eHealth Network develops cross-border eHealth service pilot ideas
Date: 31/05/23
The EU4Digital eHealth Network held a virtual event on 18 May 2023, focusing on forming ideas regarding cross-border eHealth service piloting. It was the second meeting in a series of collaboration events planned for this year, setting the ground for meaningful collaboration towards eHealth development in countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP).
The subject of cross-border eHealth service pilots was raised in the previous event on 27 April 2023. The main topics then were Patient Summary and ePrescription services – focusing on practical aspects when people travel to foreign countries. The ideation work that started during that event was continued in the May meeting.
A core highlight of the May meeting was a presentation by EU4Digital eHealth expert Henrique Martins MD, Associate Professor at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. He shared valuable lessons learned from eHealth service development experience in Portugal. He emphasised the importance of a National Contact Point to enable cross-border data exchange and of local interoperability platforms. These platforms allow the aggregation of data from different healthcare providers into a unified Patient Summary.
Another highlight was the presentation of a patient ‘journey’ map, as he or she interacts with a system such as ePrescription. This was followed by discussion of pilot solutions use-cases for ePrescription and Patient Summary. Eastern partner countries’ representatives expressed their preferences for roles as either data sender or receiver, and suggested country-relevant health data content. There was a high level of interest in ePrescription, Patient Summary and vaccination information as part of the Patient Summary. The representatives also initiated dialogue regarding legal interoperability and data protection during cross-border eHealth service piloting.
The event concluded with the EU4Digital team introducing a preliminary country readiness checklist. This is designed to facilitate internal discussions and support preparations in Eastern partner countries. The checklist covers legal matters regarding telehealth and prescription dispensation, the existence of relevant registries, national operators, and the medical coding systems that are implemented. All together, this information reflects the degree of interoperability in each country.
The Eastern partner countries will continue the eHealth service piloting ideation and preparation work separately or in pairs. The readiness checklist and further technical specifications will be discussed with working groups during regular sessions, facilitated by EU4Digital.
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