Invited as keynote speaker to the eHealth week session “Joint Plenary Green Paper on mHealth” that took place on 12 May 2015, in Riga, in the context of the eHealth week organised by the Latvian EU Presidency, the EFN General Secretary, Paul De Raeve, emphasised the key role of m-health in making progress to reform the health system from an old medical disease oriented model towards an integrated care model, in which continuity of care is the key driver for better health outcomes”, and highlighted that “the EU Commission and Member States need to talk ‘with’, not ‘about’, key EU Stakeholders. Without nurses leading pilots and policy designs, there is no real reform of the system possible.”
It is important to understand that mHealth solutions that are based on certain quality and safety standards can facilitate the shift in health care towards a more integrated model with the focus on prevention. Nurses play a pivotal role in creating trust among the users and in educating and training the patients. Nevertheless, this requires investments in health professionals’ education and training and on the development of evidence-based guidelines on the use of mHealth tools.
The joint plenary provided an overview of the results of the public consultation in the context of the Commission‘s Green Paper on mHealth (to which the EFN provided input). Different stakeholders as: patients, providers, health professionals, health authorities and industry, shared their views on how to implement mHealth in Europe and what kind of action should be taken at EU, national and regional levels, including how to overcome barriers of implementation.