Boosting eHealth: New EU Action Plan

Boosting eHealth: New EU Action Plan
Managing your health and wellbeing with the help of digital and online tools is set to become easier and more commonplace following the adoption of a second EU Action Plan for eHealth. This Action Plan - which runs from 2012 to 2020 - aims to make healthcare more efficient, cost-effective and patient oriented. In 2014, the Commission will also present ideas to boost Mobile Health, e.g. real-time monitoring of patients' vital signs via mobile telemedicine.


Plan targets five key areas:

  • Awareness and skills, to make better use of eHealth;
  • Proactive patient management of personal health;
  • Improved interoperability of different healthcare systems;
  • A clearer legal framework;
  • Support for eHealth start-up businesses, including free legal advice and funding.

Studies show that eHealth can have significant economic advantages: in Italy alone the introduction of digital technologies in the health sector is estimated to save over €12 billion. It also has the potential to significantly reduce the number of unnecessary medical appointments and hospital stays.

"eHealth brings healthcare closer to people," said Commissioner Tonio Borg, who presented the proposals alongside Neelie Kroes, Commission Vice-President responsible for the Digital Agenda. "The Action Plan will help turn the eHealth potential into better care for our citizens."

Download: Boosting eHealth: New EU Action Plan (.pdf, 114 KB).

Download from eHealthNews.eu Portal's mirror: Boosting eHealth: New EU Action Plan (.pdf, 114 KB).

Most Popular Now

Stanford Medicine Study Suggests Physici…

Artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are getting pretty good at diagnosing some diseases, even when they are complex. But how do chatbots do when guiding treatment and care after the diagnosis? For...

OmicsFootPrint: Mayo Clinic's AI To…

Mayo Clinic researchers have pioneered an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, called OmicsFootPrint, that helps convert vast amounts of complex biological data into two-dimensional circular images. The details of the tool...

Testing AI with AI: Ensuring Effective A…

Using a pioneering artificial intelligence platform, Flinders University researchers have assessed whether a cardiac AI tool recently trialled in South Australian hospitals actually has the potential to assist doctors and...

Adults don't Trust Health Care to U…

A study finds that 65.8% of adults surveyed had low trust in their health care system to use artificial intelligence responsibly and 57.7% had low trust in their health care...

AI Unlocks Genetic Clues to Personalize …

A groundbreaking study led by USC Assistant Professor of Computer Science Ruishan Liu has uncovered how specific genetic mutations influence cancer treatment outcomes - insights that could help doctors tailor...

The 10 Year Health Plan: What do We Need…

Opinion Article by Piyush Mahapatra, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Chief Innovation Officer at Open Medical. There is a new ten-year plan for the NHS. It will "focus efforts on preventing, as...

Deep Learning to Increase Accessibility…

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death globally. One of the most common tools used to diagnose and monitor heart disease, myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) by single photon...

People's Trust in AI Systems to Mak…

Psychologists warn that AI's perceived lack of human experience and genuine understanding may limit its acceptance to make higher-stakes moral decisions. Artificial moral advisors (AMAs) are systems based on artificial...

DMEA 2025 - Innovations, Insights and Ne…

8 - 10 April 2025, Berlin, Germany. Less than 50 days to go before DMEA 2025 opens its doors: Europe's leading event for digital health will once again bring together experts...

Relationship Between Sleep and Nutrition…

Diet and sleep, which are essential for human survival, are interrelated. However, recently, various services and mobile applications have been introduced for the self-management of health, allowing users to record...

New AI Tool Mimics Radiologist Gaze to R…

Artificial intelligence (AI) can scan a chest X-ray and diagnose if an abnormality is fluid in the lungs, an enlarged heart or cancer. But being right is not enough, said...

AI Model can Read ECGs to Identify Femal…

A new AI model can flag female patients who are at higher risk of heart disease based on an electrocardiogram (ECG). The researchers say the algorithm, designed specifically for female patients...