8 - 10 June 2016, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Today the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the European Commission and HIMSS Europe announced the first confirmed speakers who will be presenting at eHealth Week 2016.
Edith Schippers (Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport), Martin van Rijn (State Secretary of Health, Welfare and Sport), Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner Health and Food Safety), Jeroen Tas (CEO Connected Care & Health Informatics, Philips) and Daan Dohmen (CEO Focus Cura) will be the keynote speakers.
eHealth Week, now in its sixth edition, will address key topics around the development of eHealth in Europe during several educational sessions, with a particular focus on the increasingly important role of the patient. From 8 to 10 June, over 2,000 international experts in IT and healthcare, public institutions, professional and patient organisations are expected in Amsterdam.
Telemedicine and eMental Health amongst the most anticipated sessions
Mental health is one of the biggest health challenges of the century worldwide. The World Health Organization even predicts that by 2020 depression will be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease across all ages. During the eMental Health session at eHealth Week, a focus will be placed on the online prevention and treatment for enhancement of care mental conditions. Speakers for this session include Katherine Martin Albello, Head of Programme I.COM at Trimbos Institute and Isabela Granic, Professor in Psychopathology at the renowned Radboud University Medical Centre.
Martin van Rijn, State Secretary of Health, Welfare and Sport: "I want technology to become as evident in healthcare as it is in normal life, to serve the people who need our care. The eHealth week will show a wide range of best practices of which I am sure they inspire all participants."
In addition, speakers taking part in the ‘Telemedicine: connecting primary and secondary care’ session will be showcasing the advantages of telemedicine. The session will address questions such as: what are the major developments in telemedicine? How can we get our systems ready to implement the latest techniques for telemedicine?
Shared decision making: Changing the relationship between health professionals and patients
eHealth Week will also focus on how Shared decision making (SDM) -a collaborative process that allows patients and their providers to make healthcare decisions together- can be supported to empower patients and enhance the relationship between the patient and the provider.
Christina Roosen, Vice-President of Public Affairs at HIMSS Europe, said: "The diversity of topics and themes that will be covered at eHealth Week this year in Amsterdam will ensure that every single person attending will take many valuable learnings home with them, many of which they can apply the very next day. Our outstanding speakers will provide fruitful and insightful discussions at every level, which will significantly contribute to the betterment of healthcare through IT amongst our countries."
Markus Oei (E.N.T. specialist and director innovation Inforium) about the Shared Decision Making session: “Patient empowerment is all about understanding and getting a grip on the disease, treatment and making good choices. Providing patients with trustable, repeatable and shareable information is crucial. eHealth is potentially the biggest catalyst, but only if all involved parties are working together.
For further information, please visit:
http://www.ehealthweek.org
About eHealth Week
eHealth Week 2016 is the leading eHealth event in Europe. It will be organised in Amsterdam on 8-10 June 2016, following the Dutch Presidency of the European Council (1 January - 30 June, 2016). The event is organised by the European Commission, the Dutch Ministry of Health and the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union and HIMSS Europe. During eHealth Week 2016, over 2,000 international experts in IT and healthcare, public institutions, professional and patient organisations will be welcomed.
Under the theme "You, at the heart of transition", eHealth Week 2016 will focus on the people who are changing the healthcare system, and the first step forward is to give patients the power. eHealth policies are changing. Until now, policies have mainly focused on institutions and IT systems: today, that focus is shifting and is now being placed on eHealth users. The people who are using eHealth are becoming increasingly involved in the discussion and being placed at the heart of eHealth policy-making.
The Netherlands is one of the most digitally mature countries in Europe and is home to one of the three HIMSS EMRAM Stage 7 hospitals in Europe as well as having eight Stage 6 hospitals: it is an ideal place for the European eHealth Community to come together!
About the themes
Theme one: Empowering People
This theme is about self-empowering eHealth for patients and healthy citizens. The goal of the theme is to find out what the needs are of patients and healthy citizens if they want to be more active in managing their own health. This theme also explores how elderly people can continue to live independently and how eHealth applications can better meet the needs of users.
Theme two: Trusts & Standards
Proper legal frameworks are a precondition for healthcare providers, enterprises and member states to be able to exchange data. Legal clarity is also necessary to ensure trust among the public in eHealth solutions and applications. Proper standards and technical solutions are needed to make systems interoperable and connect the different actors. The objective of the theme is to exchange knowledge on how to promote and enhance trust in health IT systems and how to increase the use of standards in eHealth.
Theme three: Social Innovation & Transition
Often, much emphasis is placed on the technical aspects of eHealth. However, scaling up eHealth also requires a different mindset on cooperation, organisational and cultural innovation - organising healthcare in a smarter, more efficient and effective way. In this theme, the social aspects of implementation and innovation are key. What is needed - in addition to technical innovation - to ensure that user-centric eHealth solutions are deployed on a large scale? This theme will stimulate implementation, scale and use of eHealth and discuss where, why and how implementation and upscaling has been successfully achieved and how best practices can be replicated.