Telemedicine: Follow-up of the 10-point action plan

 (as of 1 October 2009)

* Actions at the level of the Member States

(1) Member States are urged to assess their needs and priorities in telemedicine by the end of 2009. These priorities should form part of the national health strategies to be presented and discussed at the 2010 eHealth Ministerial Conference.

• The High level cooperation on eHealth mechanism brought forward by the Member States Health State Secretaries was discussed during the Health State Secretary meeting on 23 October 2009. It is planned to start in 2010 and will be an instrument to carry on this first action.
• eHealth in Action - Good Practice in European Countries
• eHealth priorities and strategies in European countries

(2) By the end of 2011, Member States should have assessed and adapted their national regulations enabling wider access to telemedicine services. Issues such as accreditation, liability, reimbursement, privacy and data protection should be addressed.

* Member States' actions to be supported at EU level

(3) In 2009, the Commission will establish a European platform to support Member States in sharing information on current national legislative frameworks relevant to telemedicine and proposals for new national regulations.

• High Level Cooperation on eHealth - eHealth Governance Initiative between the Member States is being built-up

(4) In 2010, the Commission, in cooperation with Member States, will publish an analysis of the Community legal framework applicable to telemedicine services.

• European Commission will release a staff working document on the legal issues in 2010
• Study on the Legal Framework for Interoperable eHealth in Europe (September 2009)

(5) By the end of 2010, the Commission invites industry and international standardisation bodies to issue a proposal on the interoperability of telemonitoring systems, including both existing and new standards (mandate M403). M403 has taken two years delay and it can be expected that it won't be executed before 2012. More information available at: http://www.ehealth-interop.nen.nl/

(6) By the end of 2011, the Commission, in cooperation with Member States, will issue a policy strategy paper on how to ensure interoperability, quality and security of telemonitoring systems based on existing or emerging standards at European level.

* Actions to be undertaken by the Commission

(7) In 2010, the Commission, via its Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, supports a large-scale pilot project (www.renewinghealth.eu) aiming to implement large-scale real-life test beds for the validation and subsequent evaluation of innovative telemedicine services. This will include a network of procurers and payers of healthcare services.

(8) The Commission will support the development, by 2011, of guidelines for consistent assessment of the impact of telemedicine services, including effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. This will be based on the work of experts in the field, Commission-supported studies, large-scale pilot schemes and relevant research projects.

• Study Methodology to assess Telemedicine Applications (02-2009/02-2010)
• Study Economic Impact of Interoperable Electronic Health Records and ePrescription in Europe (01-2008/02-2009)

(9) The Commission will continue to contribute to European collaboration between health professionals and patients in key areas with the potential for greater application of telemedicine, in order to make specific recommendations on how to improve confidence in and acceptance of telemedicine, also taking into account ethical and privacy related aspects.

• Member States in cooperation with the European Commission discuss the high level cooperation platform on eHealth. This platform will associate stakeholders including associations, patients and industry.

(10) The Commission will support the collection of good practice on deployment of telemedicine services in the different Member States.

• eHealth2011 conference (10-13 May 2011)
• eHealth2010 conference (15-18 March 2010)
• i2010 subgroup on eHealth
• Telemedicine on ePractice: knowledge sharing (filter > eHealth > Telemedicine services)
• eHealth in Action - Good Practice in European Countries (February 2009)

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* Stakeholders include all the various persons, entities and organisations involved in the expansion and spread of telemedicine. They can be users (patients and professionals), Member States' representatives and decision makers, managers of health systems, payers or ICT industry representatives. All the main stakeholder groups have had opportunities to participate in the consultation process and to provide input.