“Patients’ Empowerment should be the leitmotiv of the e-health agenda”

The fourth edition of the Arctic-Light e-health Conference, ALEC 2014, took place in Kiruna (Sweden) on 4-6 February. Around 200 participants gathered around the theme of patient involvement in e-health.

During two days, regional decision-makers, experts in e-health, health professionals, patients’ representatives as well as representatives from the European Commission and from the healthcare industry discussed the recent developments of e-health and how these affect patient empowerment.

“Our assumption was that once we open data for patients, they would be empowered. Well, it is not enough”, said Peeter Ross, from the Estonian eHealth Foundation.

While speakers agreed that technology is no longer a primary obstacle to the deployment of e-health, organisational change and trust appear to be key factors in reconciling innovative care with the needs of patients and health professionals. “Patients’ empowerment should be the leitmotiv of e-health agendas", said Anders Olauson, EPF President in his presentation. Co-decision in e-health and the promotion of digital and health literacy were identified as fundamental enablers for patients’ involvement.

Data ownership and data safety are another burning point. “The EU Task Force on e-Health made it very clear that people own their own data”, said President Ilves of Estonia in his opening speech.

Following the conference’s recommendation to increase the exchange of best practices between stakeholders, participants were also invited to take part in the ENGAGED side event on “building a learning community for active and healthy ageing solutions”. (More information about ENGAGED: www.engaged-innovation.eu).

For more information on eHealth, please contact EPF programme Manager Liuska Sanna at liuska.sanna@eu-patient.eu.

 

 

 

 

 

*Picture credits: EPF,Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and our President Anders Olauson at the Artic Light E-health Conference