ACTIVITIES :: ICT for Societal challenges :: Better and personalised healthcare, anywhere and at a lower cost
Better and personalised healthcare, anywhere and at a lower cost
Better quality of care and controlled medical costs enable people to live
independently: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have already
strongly contributed to these goals but much more is still to be done in the
future.
By 2020 around 25% of the EU population will be over 65 and the ratio
between
people at work and the remaining population is expected to become 2 to 1,
from the
current 4 to 1. Tackling demographic trends due to ageing is one of the
challenges
where ICT can play a significant role. eHealth technologies enable the
delivery of
better and more efficient services to Europeans, regardless their location,
by granting
online access to personal health information, by supporting an early
diagnosis for
diseases and personalised therapies, as well as through implementing
innovative
telemedicine services. Ultimately, ICT should enable users to better manage
their
health and lifestyle, with a strong impact on the quality of the service
received and
of the health costs sustained by society.
But how to ensure secure availability of health information, an earlier
disease diagnosis
and faster, more tailored medical treatments? The Digital Agenda for Europe
has
defined a number of objectives, including the implementation of
interoperable
patient data records – which can be safely accessed and exchanged
electronically
across the EU by 2012. By 2015 all Europeans should have secure online
access to
their medical data and telemedicine services should be widely deployed by
2020.