European eHealth policies are changing

Until now, eHealth policies have mainly focused on institutions and IT systems. Today, that focus is shifting and is now being placed on eHealth users. The people who are using eHealth are becoming increasingly involved in the discussion and being placed at the heart of eHealth policy-making.

Indeed, something seems to have changed also from the EU policy-makers side. The eHealth users have been heard. During the 2007-2013 period, the EU funds for Healthcare projects were scattered, inefficient and mainly focused on infrastructure. During the 2014-2020 period, funding has been integrated in order to achieve systemic changes, they look for added value in terms of cost efficiency and for health systems, the infrastructure investments are seen as part of the health systems reforms, projects need to be sustainable, and more importantly, any funding on Healthcare has to be embedded in the Health Strategy of the country (ex-ante conditionality for funding).

Only by respecting some of these red lines, EU funding will achieve its goal of being one of the major drivers for public investment. Taking into account national contributions and other private investment, the impact of Cohesion Policy for 2014-2020 is expected to be about € 450 billion.

If you want to know more and impact eHealth policy, the eHealth Week, which will take place from 8 - 10 June 2016 in Amsterdam, is the place to be. This year’s educational programme will focus on three main themes: Empowering People, Trust & Standards and Innovation & Transition. Over 2,000 international experts in IT and healthcare, public institutions, professional and patient organisations are expected to attend. Do you want to be involved? For more information contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website