The goal of the new Action Plan in general will be to:
- improve chronic disease and multimorbidity (multiple concurrent disease) management and to strengthen effective prevention and health promotion practices;
- increase sustainability and efficiency of health systems by unlocking innovation, enhancing patient/citizen-centric care and citizen empowerment and encouraging organisational changes;
- foster cross-border healthcare, health security, solidarity, universality and equity;
- improve legal and market conditions for developing eHealth products and services.
Barriers to be removed to facilitate this include:
- achieving wider interoperability of eHealth services;
- supporting research, development and innovation in eHealth and wellbeing to address the lack of availability of user-friendly tools and services;
- facilitating uptake and ensuring wider deployment;
- promoting policy dialogue and international cooperation on eHealth at global level.
It remains to be seen how the Commission intends to practically achieve these goals and remove the barriers to eHealth. That VPH is specifically mentioned in the dossier is very positive however and acts as a useful reference in future advocacy programmes.
The full action planis available here.
