Europe - mHealth (mobile health) key to improving EU healthcare systems

Citation

(2013), "Europe - mHealth (mobile health) key to improving EU healthcare systems", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 26 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA.06226haa.009

Europe - mHealth (mobile health) key to improving EU healthcare systems

Article Type:

News and views

From:

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Volume 26, Issue 8

Keywords: Improvements in EU healthcare systems, Chronic disease management and mobile heath, Information and communication technology in healthcare

mHealth roll out across the EU could help save as much as €99bn in healthcare costs by 2017, according to a the findings of a new report.

An ageing population and ever rising numbers of people suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes are causing headaches for European governments.

At the moment between 70 and 80 per cent of EU healthcare budgets are spent on treating chronic conditions – which require constant care and reduce the available workforce.

These challenges will survive the current economic downturn and cannot be kicked into the long grass. The question is how cash-strapped governments can make better use of a diminishing pool of healthcare workers and smaller budgets to deliver the kind of healthcare Europeans need and expect.

That’s why eHealth – the application of information and communication technologies to healthcare systems – is rightly being explored as a solution to some of these challenges.

During e-health week in Dublin, the real excitement was around how the use of mobile phones and wireless technologies can improve healthcare, known as mHealth.

Described as a “win win win” situation, conference sessions outlined how mHealth is effective in reducing public sector costs, which currently stand at nine per cent of overall EU GDP, as well as providing a greater level of independent living and personalised care for patients, and concrete growth prospects for industry.

So what are the concrete opportunities that mHealth can provide in Europe? And what forthcoming policies will be critical for helping mHealth succeed in the EU?

The opportunities of mHealth roll out in the EU have been highlighted in a report by the GSMA (Global System for Mobile communications Association) and PwC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers), which calculated that mobile technology could help save as much as €99bn in healthcare costs by 2017.

These savings would be achieved, for example, through reducing care costs for chronic diseases and freeing up doctors’ time with better access to data. Significantly, this savings figure is the amount reached after taking into account the €6.2bn cost of funding the 211,000 jobs needed for mHealth deployment.

In addition, mHealth could save an additional 5.9 billion work hours from avoided absenteeism and early retirements.

Tackling chronic diseases requires a budget of €700bn per year across the EU, so it is clear that new solutions must be found to tackle these ailments as they become even more prevalent.

The GSMA/PWC report identifies mHealth as particularly helpful for early diagnosis in this area, and providing at-home monitoring and treatment. Diabetics, for example, who make up many as one in ten of the population, can send blood readings from their mobile device to a remote doctor for analysis, which helps to spot issues early.

Moreover, innovative mobile applications, such as Cellnovo can analyse the blood readings to immediately advise individuals on adjusting their diet, activity levels or insulin.

The good news is that the European commission has clearly recognised the potential of mHealth, and is considering mHealth solutions in its reviews of the medical device directive and data protection directive.

And following the recommendation of the EU’s eHealth task force, the commission has committed to issuing a mHealth green paper by 2014, which will set out how quality and transparency can be established in the mHealth sector.

The responsibility for healthcare industry leaders during this time is to feed into the legislative consultation processes, describing how they foresee the delivery of mHealth into specific communities and across member state borders – and any technical hurdles this may encounter.

Similarly, the technology and healthcare industry must communicate their needs to policymakers, including the skills people will need to attain to work in the mHealth sector.

For more information: http://www.theparliament.com