The EFN is a strong supporter of cross-border healthcare in Europe. As explained in this policy statement, it fosters patients’ rights, quality and safety and cooperation across countries. It is also key to ensure the continuity of patient care. The successful deployment of cross border-healthcare is linked to the successful development of Electronic Health Records, and as such the EFN is involved in the only two EU-funded projects in this topic: InteropEHRate and Smart4Health. Both projects aim at creating digital solutions for electronic health records that empower patients and that is available in all EU countries and beyond.
Due to the importance of this topic, the EFN and other EU stakeholders have been invited by the Committee of the Regions Interregional Group on Health and Wellbeing, together with the European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA), to attend an event, where the participants discussed the challenges and possible solutions concerning the Healthcare sector in Cross-Border Regions and shared regional experiences and viewpoints on this point.
During the event, Mr Henri Lewalle (Franco-Belgian health observatory) intervened to talk about the state of the legislation in cross-border cooperation in the EU, emphasizing the case of the border between Belgium and France. Ms Julia Winkler (Project Manager, Health and Social Fund of Lower Austria) talked about the ongoing projects that EUREGHA has for enhancing cooperation among regions in cross-border healthcare, and finally, Mrs Dorota Tomalak (Administrator, NAT Secretariat, Committee of the Regions) explained how there are 36 different European Regions participating in projects on the same topic. The event was moderated by Ms Birgitta Sacredeus (MEP, EPP).