"Estonia has achieved much in the area of eHealth compared to most of Europe and the countries of the world; however, the introduction of many proposed eHealth solutions is still in progress," said Siim Sikkut, Adviser to the Strategy Office of the Government Office, who prepared the formation of the Task Force. "There has been rapid technological development in the field of health, for example, in telemedicine, and Estonia needs to accelerate the pace of implementation of innovations," Sikkut added.
The Government decided to set new objectives and agree on a comprehensive plan to achieve these goals in order to develop eHealth at the national level. "This is a cross-sectoral issue, which is related to the health, social welfare, ICT, enterprise and innovation, and research and development policies. Additionally, this field involves various parties from the public, private and third sector," Sikkut said.
The Task Force on the formation of Estonian eHealth National Strategy will be set up to operate within the Government Office. The task force format for issues requiring cross-sectoral cooperation was recommended to Estonia by the OECD in its report of 2011.
The role of the Task Force is to develop the Estonian eHealth Strategic Development Plan until 2020, along with development activities, a financing plan and a detailed implementation plan for 2015 - 2017. Also, the Estonian eHealth development vision until 2015 and proposals on the organisation of the management and financing of the field serve as a part of the strategy.
The Task Force includes the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, and the Ministry of Finance with relevant state authorities from within the area of government. The State Secretary will also make a proposal to the Estonian Medical Association, the Estonian Hospitals Association, the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the Estonian Society of Family Doctors, Tallinn City's Board of Disabled People (NGO), Technomedicum of Tallinn University of Technology, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tartu, and the Estonian Service Industry Association to appoint their representatives.
The work of the Task Force will be managed and organised by the Government Office in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, who will be responsible for the implementation of the strategy in the future. The work of the Task Force will be headed by Ain Aaviksoo.
The preparation of the eHealth strategy has been also set out in the Action Programme of the Government of the Republic for 2014. The Task Force’s term for the completion of tasks is November 2015.