"We need access to medical information all over Europe"

A year ago, the European Commission announced the launch of a European eHealth pilot project designed to make the evolving health-IT infrastructures of the EU Member States interoperable. Gérard Comyn, head of the European Commission’s “ICT for health” unit, spoke to HealthTechWire about the ongoing efforts.

Published: 05/08

PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA - (HealthTech Wire) - What is the broad vision of the European Commission for eHealth in Europe?

We see eHealth as an answer to the demands of an ageing and at the same time increasingly mobile European society. Our goal is to build up a European eHealth information space where the personal medical information of a European citizen will be available to the patient and his/her doctor, no matter where in Europe the person actually is. This will help to avoid medical errors, facilitate patient treatment, increase patient empowerment and focus the attention of medical care back to the patient.

How can the European Commission contribute to this vision?

As part of its Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, the European Commission has taken the initiative to implement a European pilot project, the “SOS large scale pilot project”. The goal is to make national health-IT infrastructures in the different EU Member States interoperable. We need access to medical information all over Europe. It is a bottom-up approach, which means that we want to take what is already there in the different EU Member States and establish a level of interoperability on top of it.

What is the current state of the SOS project (1)?

Twelve countries are involved: Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Slovakia. The contract is currently being negotiated and will be finalised before the summer break. It is a three-year-project under Swedish leadership with EC funding of EUR 8 million. On an operational level, the project will be run by a management board which consists of members of the ministries of health of the contributing EU Member States. Industry is represented by an industry consortium of 31 companies that will be responsible for the technical side of the project. In addition, we are currently establishing a thematic network called CALLIOPE, which aims to involve further players that cannot be represented on the management board for logistical reasons. These are, for instance, patient organisations, the professional bodies of doctors and pharmacists, and standards organisations. This contract, too, will be finalised before the summer break.

What exactly will be tested in the SOS project?

There are two main areas: one is a patient summary that is intended for unexpected medical events. It is a summary of the most important medical information that a healthcare provider needs in order to properly treat a patient he has never seen before. The second focus of the SOS project will be on electronic prescriptions, including an electronic medication list.

Can you give examples of how European citizens will benefit once these applications become widely available?

When a patient unexpectedly needs medical help abroad, the doctor will have immediate access to the most important diagnoses and to the current medication. This will speed up medical care in a foreign country and make it safer, since the doctor can, for example, perform drug safety checks before prescribing a new substance. It will also be possible for a patient who runs out of medication to call his doctor back home to renew his prescription. The patient can then go to the next available pharmacy to get his medication – anywhere in Europe. This can be of enormous help for mobile European citizens.

Mr. Comyn, thank you very much for your time and answers. (PP)

(1) Click here for further information on the SOS project

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