Digital Health Uptake
Project description
Digital tools have become crucial for the operation of Europe’s health and care systems. The shift to digital health and care transformation sped up across Europe especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet many gaps remain. Hence, there is a vital need for hybrid approaches that bring together both the virtual and physical. Digital Health Uptake (DHU) bridges this gap by coordinating activities between health stakeholders so as to integrate digital solutions along the continuum of health and care.
DHU will facilitate the alignment of policies, strategies, instruments and activities to advance the uptake of digital health solutions and services in Europe.
In line with the focus of the Digital Europe Programme on increasing European use of digital technologies, DHU will concentrate on the application of these technologies in health and care.
Specifically, this two-year long project will:
- Monitor and analyse the uptake and use of digital solutions across Europe, mapping the needs and addressing key barriers faced by both demand and supply sides.
- Increase knowledge and monitoring capacities and facilitate exchanges and cooperation.
- Foster scaling up, mutual learning and transfer of innovative practices within and across borders.
In more detail:
DHU will set up a Radar to provide an up-to-date overview of digital health solutions and services in Europe. It will collect, analyse and continuously monitor the potential of technological innovation and the uptake of digital health solutions. In addition, DHU will foster further knowledge exchange among health authorities and stakeholders, leading to new partnerships and collaboration.
DHU will offer comprehensive support to accelerating the sustainable adoption, use and scaling up of digital solutions. Concrete services will include:
- Twinning activities between organisations, regions and countries.
- Provision of technical assistance and training to use scaling-up tools.
- Expansion of the digital health ecosystem.
DHU will also play an essential role in building capacity and skills for all stakeholders – from patients to healthcare professionals, to health managers, innovators, and policy makers – so that they enhance their abilities as active and informed participants in an inclusive and trust-based digital transformation of health and care.
DHU partners join together to launch the project's activities on digital health solutions uptake
EHTEL's role
EHTEL is leading DHU’s work on the acceleration of digital health solutions adoption and it co-leads activities on dissemination and communication in collaboration with other DHU partners. It will identify tools and methodologies to provide technical assistance and training so as to offer these to digital solutions’ implementers.
EHTEL has a longstanding track record of engaging in meaningful services, enabled through adoption methodologies, in the domain of digital health. To do this, EHTEL has fostered stakeholder dialogue – both formally and informally – with many other groups. The association has enabled an active dialogue with European policymakers, projects, initiatives and with fellow stakeholder organisations in the field. Examples of EHTEL’s work include activities in the JAseHN Joint Action and in projects like SCIROCCO Exchange, Momentum, and vCare.
Perspective and next steps
DHU is funded by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme for a period of 24 months. EHTEL and six other partners bring together a group of research organisations, businesses, and intergovernmental and multistakeholder associations that operate at European, national and regional levels. The DHU partners are:
- empirica
- DIGITALEUROPE
- European Institute for Innovation Through Health Data
- ECHAlliance
- EIPonAHA Reference Sites Collaborative Network
- F6S Network
EHTEL welcomes staying in touch with all stakeholders which share an interest in digital health services and establishing national and regional solutions that offer meaningful support to cross-border healthcare services. EHTEL works on this subject in close contact with the relevant EC bodies and initiatives. EHTEL members are heartily encouraged to get involved in policy formation in the field of digital transformation of health and care.
Active involvement and engagement in DHU’s activities with wider networks are warmly invited.
For more information, visit the project website and social media channels in Twitter and LinkedIn.
