The push to use Information and Communication Technologies â specifically mobile technology (or mHealth) â to support healthcare has been driven by the need to find cost-effective ways to overcome two significant challenges on the horizon for healthcare in Europe: an ageing population suffering from a rise in chronic diseases and an associated rise in cost for provision of healthcare due to these conditions.
The use of mHealth is of interest to parties looking at ways to overcome these challenges because it enables a shift in focus towards early diagnosis and detection of changes in risk of disease, promotion of health and prevention, and self-management of chronic diseases.
For these reasons, the European mHealth Innovation and Knowledge Hub was established to collect and share national experiences on mHealth and to support countries and regions in setting up large-scale mHealth programmes.
The mHealth Hub aims:
To operationalise an mHealth Innovation Hub for integration into the national health systems in Europe.
To serve as a focal point for expertise on mHealth in the WHO European Region.
To assist countries in implementing mHealth strategies.
To act as facilitator of innovation in mHealth.
To act as an accelerator for the EU Digital Single Market.
To produce Knowledge Tools for health systems and services on NCDs.
To provide a code of ethics for mHealth data.
EXPECTED IMPACTS
1
Creating evidence on health outcomes, quality of life and care efficiency gains in the NCD management by using mHealth solutions.
2
Enabling mHealth to be deployed in national and regional level health services and to deliver large-scale benefits, first for the selected entities, and later in the rest of Europe.
3
Becoming the focal point for expertise on mHealth in the EU and identifying and highlighting trends and gaps in policies, standards, regulations, etc. and best practices and barriers to the creation of consistent mHealth infrastructure and strategy.
4
Unique platform to support innovation in and up-scaling of mHealth by convening cross sector stakeholders (young entrepreneurs, start-ups, governments, technical officers etc.).
5
Creating synergies with the existing EU platforms of stakeholders such as eHealth network of Member States and also the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (requirement, scope, impact).
Investment in âHubsâ (âKnowledge Hubsâ or âInnovation Hubsâ) allows countries to learn from the practical experiences of their peers, including what pitfalls to avoid, and what practices to adopt. It also allows countries with noteworthy development experiences to share their knowledge to either further refine their own experiences, or to develop meaningful international relationships with other countries wishing to learn from them. Hubs serve as a basis for researchers, project coordinators, experts and technical support teams to develop knowledge, capability and technical expertise in a particular field. The âHubâ model has proven successful for scaling up solutions to a number of global problems.
The European mHealth Innovation and Knowledge Hub is intended to serve as a mechanism to share success in mHealth across the European region and boost uptake of mHealth solutions amongst national governments. At a high level, the proposed mHealth Hub will have a dual focus on knowledge management & innovation, and on practical implementation (supporting EU member states to launch large-scale mHealth interventions).
Leading Institutions
Operated by
EHTEL (European Health Telematics Association)
INTERNATIONAL
European multi-stakeholder organisation that brings together organisations and individuals engaged in eHealth, seeking to transform healthcare practice through digitalisation.
i~HD (European Institute for Innovation through Health Data)
INTERNATIONAL
European not-for-profit body that tackles areas of challenge in the successful scaling up of innovations that rely on high quality and interoperable health data.
OuluHealth
FINLAND
OuluHealth facilitates close cooperation that drives innovation, boosts the healthtech business and supports the implementation of better healthcare services.
Other participants
Campania Region
ITALY
Regional public body responsible for planning and organising the Campania regional health system, including the coordination and planning of digital health interventions.
Empirica GmbH
GERMANY
Research and consultancy firm specialising in ICT and digital transformation, offering a broad portfolio of services to both the private and public sectors.
Ericsson Nikola Tesla d.d.
CROATIA
Croatian ICT company associated with the Ericsson Group. Experts in digital health platforms, health service design and e2e digital health services deployment.
Foundation Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol â Connected Health Cluster
ESTONIA
Country-wide partnership among health-related stakeholders in Estonia (70+ partners), committed to accelerating the adoption of connected health solutions.
Dom Zdravlja Zagreb â Centar (Health Care Zagreb â Centar)
CROATIA
Largest provider of primary healthcare services in Croatia. They also develop educational and preventive activities for different audiences.
HL7 International Foundation
INTERNATIONAL
Not-for-profit standards developing organisation that provides a comprehensive framework for exchanging, integrating, sharing and retrieving eHealth information.
MDOG (Mijn Data Onze Gezondheid)
THE NETHERLANDS
Not-for-profit organisation that aims to enhance the power of citizens to manage their own health data, in pursuit of the wellbeing of themselves and of the society at large.
Spanish Ministry of Health - Ministerio de Salud
SPAIN
Maximum responsible body for health in Spain, in charge of proposing and implementing the Government’s policy on health and strategic planning.
Osakidetza (Basque Health Service)
SPAIN
Public organisation managing the regional health services, with strong interest in incorporating ICT to the healthcare.
PCHA (Personal Connected Health Alliance)
INTERNATIONAL
Not-for-profit innovation company committed to improving health behaviours and chronic disease management via connected health technologies.
ProMIS (Programma Mattone Internazionale Salute)
ITALY
Institutionalised network of Italian regions to promote cooperation on themes identified as the main topics by the central, regional and local administrations.
JĂ€mtland HĂ€rjedalen Region
SWEDEN
County Council with responsibility for primary and secondary healthcare, and regional development. An eHealth centre has been created to speed up eHealth developments.
SPMS (Serviços Partilhados do MinistĂ©rio da SaĂșde, Shared Services for Ministry of Health)
PORTUGAL
National eHealth regulatory entity and coordinator, developer, and integrator of services related to digital health in Portugal.
University of Agder
NORWAY
One of the newest universities in Norway, with more than 11,000 students. Research is the foundation of all its teaching activities and covers a wide variety of disciplines.
University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien
AUSTRIA
Austriaâs largest purely technical university for applied sciences. The courses are based on a solid scientific foundation and are also practice-oriented.