Introduced by EHTEL President, Donna Henderson, two keynote speakers offered their insights into different stages of digital health transformation in Europe:
- “Managing the digital transformation policy agenda at country level” by Dr Clemens Auer, European Health Forum Gastein, Austria
- “EU initiatives and the EU digital policy agenda” by Petra Wilson, Health Connect Partners, UK
🗣️ Speakers
► Managing the digital transformation policy agenda at country level
Dr. Clemens Martin Auer, European Health Forum Gastein, Austria
Dr Clemens Auer reflected on his experience in heading up Austria’s digital health policy initiatives over the second decade of this century. He described why Austria had been so focused on the digitalisation of health systems and the flow of health information; the country’s involvement in ELGA electronic health records; its engagement in epSOS; and several personal experiences while at events and on study visits.
► EU initiatives and the EU digital policy agenda
Dr. Petra Wilson, Co-founder and managing director of Health Connect Partners, United Kingdom
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Petra Wilson provided useful complementary insights by outlining three phases of development of the European Health Data Space. In her presentation she focused on the underpinning legal policy framework. These involved three phases: where we came from; where we are now; and the direction of travel. An immense shift has taken place from a single cross-border health directive in 2011 towards a mass of relevant legislation in 2025. Today, the European Health Data Space is “the tool for opening data”, based on all-important data altruism. The space will be fully in existence in around ten years’ time (2034). Artificial intelligence (AI) will help Europeans move forward on digital health. To conclude, “The future of digital health is bright”.
The two speeches provided interesting groundwork for the opinions offered in Session 2, which looked backwards at deployment journeys and lessons learned.