E-HEATH VITAL IN BATTLE AGAINST HEART DISEASE
E-health is vital to winning the battle against
heart disease, European cardiology leaders said today in a European Society of
Cardiology (ESC) position paper published in European Heart Journal. The
novel paper outlines how the ESC will exploit e-health in education and
research, while tackling issues of quality control and data security.
By 2017 more than 3 billion
people worldwide will own a smartphone and half will use health Apps.
"Information and
communication technology (ICT) plays a central role in helping us make
decisions in almost every aspect of life including what to buy and where to
travel, and patients are often frustrated that healthcare does not keep
pace," said lead author Professor Martin R. Cowie, professor of cardiology
at Imperial College London and the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, UK.
He added: "ICT has the
potential to personalise healthcare, help patients take more responsibility for
their own health, and cut down on costly hospital stays. The ESC sees e-health
as vital to achieving its mission of reducing the burden of cardiovascular
disease in Europe and will take a proactive role in developing, assessing and
implementing ICT innovations to support cardiovascular health."
E-health refers to the use of
ICT in healthcare services, surveillance, education, training and research.
Examples are mobile applications (Apps) for monitoring physiological signs such
as blood pressure, telemedicine for remote monitoring of patients with heart
failure, electronic medical records, e-prescribing, e-referrals, decision
support systems for physicians, and disease registries.
The ESC's medium term action
plan is to:
· Facilitate wider
implementation of e-health
· Educate and train ESC
members in the appropriate use of e-health
· Discuss regulation and
quality control (including benchmarks) with relevant organisations
· Participate in societal and
political discussions on data security and confidentiality
· Support research into the
development, evaluation and implementation of e-health technologies
· Promote policy dialogue at
local, national and international levels with governments, regulators, payers,
professional bodies, citizens, patients, healthcare professionals and industry
· Provide information for
European citizens on the risks and benefits of e-health applications.
"By 2017 more than 3
billion people worldwide will own a smartphone and half of them will be using
health Apps," said Professor Cowie. "But professional organisations
have largely ignored this area of health and lifestyle decision making. There
is no global approach to regulation of health Apps and consumers can be misled
into purchasing a technology that is less beneficial than advertised."
"More clarity is needed
on data protection issues, confidentiality and legal liability of developers
and service providers," he continued. "The ESC is keen to work with
all stakeholders -- consumer and patient organisations, health professionals
and organisations, public authorities, App developers, telecommunication
service providers, mobile device manufacturers, and others -- to optimise the
design and implementation of new technologies for cardiovascular health."
The position paper highlights
the ESC's key deliverables in e-health. The ESC will take the lead on making
e-health an essential part of educational events. The ESC curriculum and
syllabus will be updated to include e-health in the knowledge and skills
required by cardiologists and other healthcare professionals.
E-health will become a core
part of the ESC's research activities. The ESC will support and encourage its
members to conduct research to develop ICT solutions, improve inter-operability
and evaluate health and healthcare impact and value for money. A summit will be
organised for relevant stakeholders to develop criteria for evaluating
technologies, and develop guidelines for the design of e-health trials.
Professor Cowie said:
"Patients and cardiologists need to know whether a new ICT solution is
worth using and we will assist with this, for example by providing reviews of
technologies, including Apps, conducted by our members. E-health is a rapidly
moving field and we want to maximise its potential to improve cardiovascular
health and prevent cardiovascular disease."
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