11 - 13 May 2015, Riga, Latvia.Privacy, security, patient safety, a clear legal framework and evidence of cost-effectiveness are all necessary for mobile health (mHealth) to flourish in Europe, according to more than 200 organisations who participated in a public consultation on mHealth, organised by the European Commission (EC).
The long-awaited results of this Green Paper consultation will form the basis of numerous discussions at eHealth Week 2015 and, in parallel, the mHealth Summit, taking place in Riga, Latvia in May.
"In Latvia, several projects related to mobile health have commenced - for example, Lattelecom, the Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital and the Latvian Rural Family Physicians Association are cooperating in the framework of a Competency Centre programme", said Signe Bāliņa, the president of The Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association - LIKTA. "They are researching telemedicine solutions for monitoring heart and diabetic patients."
Bālina added: "By using telecommunication services, the care of chronically ill patients in Latvian rural areas can be improved. At the same time, mHealth must be integrated into the existing eHealth projects so that they provide convenience for the patient and reduce the workload of the physician."
Research company BCC Research forecasted in its report "Mobile Health Technologies and Global Markets", published last year,that the global mHealth market will be worth over 19 billion euros by 2018, with Europe being the fastest growing segment.
Daina Mūrmane-Umbraško, director of The National Health Service of Latvia said: "Digital Europe is one of the most important Latvian priorities during the Latvian Presidency. The rapidly growing information technologies provide both a source of momentous opportunities that will boost smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for the EU and challenges that need to be timely addressed in order to seize these opportunities in health sector also. Latvian Presidency will focus on patient-centred healthcare and empowerment of patients, using technologies to improve the quality of healthcare, innovations in eHealth and mHealth, cross-border exchange of health data and patient data protection issues."
Therefore mHealth will be one of the key topics of eHealth Week 2015. One of the first events of the conference will be a joint plenary by the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council, the European Commission and HIMSS on the follow-up to the Green Paper on mHealth, which was published in the spring of 2014 and announced in the European eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020.
Pēteris Zilgalvis, Head of Unit Health and Wellbeing, DG Connect, European Commission, who will be a key speaker at the mHealth Summit said: "It's not about asking the citizens to come to digital but about digital services going to where the citizens are to help them manage their health as well as disease. mHealth has this potential, provided it is safe to use while respecting people's privacy. At eHealth Week, we will host a public discussion on the next steps for mHealth in Europe to take. We invite everyone to be part of this discussion."
In addition to Pēteris Zilgalvis, participants of the plenary on mHealth (12 May at 9 - 10:30 am) will also include Petra Wilson, CEO of International Diabetes Federation, Paul de Raeve, Secretary General of the European Federation of Nurses Associations, Javier Ferrero Álvarez-Rementeria, CIO of the Andalusian Agency for Healthcare Quality and Sophie Mestchersky, Director, European Policy and Government Affairs, Application Developers Alliance. In the afternoon of 12 May, the discussion will be taken further at a special EU mHealth stakeholder event, also part of eHealth Week.
Those who want to focus on mHealth even more can attend the mHealth Summit on 11 May and, overlapping with eHealth Week, on 12 May, organised by HIMSS Europe.
For further information, please visit:
http://www.ehealthweek.org
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About World of Health IT
The World Congress of Health IT Conference & Exhibition is the premier forum for the advancement of IT in healthcare in Europe. To address the needs of key stakeholders in the community of eHealth in Europe, The World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition offers professional development sessions, suppliers exhibitions, exchange of best practices, networking sessions and debates and discussions concerning the issues that will shape the future of eHealth.
About eHealth Week and WoHIT
eHealth Week 2015, combined with the World of Health IT (WoHIT), is the main eHealth event in Europe, to be held in Riga, in May 11 - 13, as part of Latvia's Presidency of the EU Council. It is organized by the European Commission, the Latvian Ministry of Health and the international non-governmental organization HIMSS Europe. During eHealth Week 2015 over a thousand international experts from the fields of IT and healthcare, public institutions, professional and patient organizations will visit Latvia.
About HIMSS
HIMSS is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded 52 years ago, HIMSS and its related organizations are headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. HIMSS represents nearly 50,000 individual members, of which more than two thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 570 corporate members and more than 225 not-for-profit partner organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the effective use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, research initiatives, and media vehicles designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care.