EHTEL Symposium 2012
Facts not fiction: the future of eHealth is already here
More than 150 eHealth and tele-healthcare enthusiasts from Europe and beyond met on 6-7 December 2012 for the Annual EHTEL Symposium. The event coincided with the launch of the eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020 - Innovative healthcare for the 21st century,on which participants received a first-hand presentation by DG CONNECT.
“The waiting is over.” Much of what is considered to be ‘future health’ is already being implemented in many healthcare systems around Europe. Telehealth is often integrated in home care, just as telemedicine is integrated in clinical routines e.g. for stroke.
Everyone in healthcare uses some form of digital communication. Yet while the tools already exist, many conceptual, legal, organisational and educational challenges remain. To be prepared for these challenges, Symposium participants learned and debated together about citizen-centric concepts like the coproduction of Health and the Digital Health Continuum.
The Symposium also outlined the strategies and tactics that stakeholders can use to face the health and care situation in 2012, and to do this in a way that is radically different from 2-3 years ago. The current fact is old fiction.
This Anniversary Symposium was hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), a consultative body that gives representatives of Europe's socio-occupational interest groups, and others, a formal platform to express their points of views on EU issues. Its opinions are forwarded to the larger institutions – the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament. It thus has a key role to play in the Union's decision-making process.