Collaborating for Digital Health and Care in Europe

EHTEL’s 2021 Work Programme aims to consolidate the association’s role as a key collaboration platform among the various parts of the digital health ecosystem. It builds on the top priorities of Imagining 2029, and the needs and gaps highlighted by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

EHTEL’s vision for 2021 is inspired and enhances the innate intelligence of what is perhaps the most complex organism lying at the heart of the health system: the human body.

To enact this vision, in the coming year EHTEL’s work will be structured around three key work streams. Each reflects an approach associated with a key part of the human anatomy: head, feet, and body.

Health Data Spaces and Ecosystems

This top-down approach is focused on health spaces and ecosystems. Like the head, it aims to work on strategic directions to:

• inform and educate EHTEL members on European policy discussions (e.g., the Data Governance Act and the European Health Data Space) and their future directions,
• provide feedback from EHTEL members to relevant European consultations, surveys, and meetings.

This topic will consolidate the work done in previous years by the ELO network and the Digital Integrated Care Taskforce (DICT).        

Blended care

This bottom-up approach has its feet firmly on the ground. Inspired by the newest developments implemented at ground level, it focuses on how to mainstream virtual care with new models of care.

This workstream will turn theory into practice since it will:

• concentrate on the clinical, organisational and technical challenges of blended care, bringing together examples of both digital and real-life models of care,
• be oriented towards two ‘use cases’ (mental health and multi-morbidities).

Work in the field will draw on two already-organised 2020 Symposium sessions on blended care and eMental health, and previous webinars run by the DICT.

“Mind the gap”

Heads and feet are connected by the core of the body. “Mind the gap” provides a “filling-in the dots” approach to creating connections among themes and ideas. It offers opportunities to EHTEL members to:

• voice your needs and preferences, and build capacity,
• vote on topics of your choice related to the challenges of the accelerating digital transformation of health and care.

Topics will touch on the technical, organisational and human challenges that health and care organisations, and health and care professionals, face as a result of health and care digital transformation.

Inspired by healthy human bodies and minds

Drawing inspiration from the functioning of a healthy human body and human mind, in which different parts can work together in perfect synergy, EHTEL’s 2021 Work Programme’s proposes a holistic framework for the digital health sector. The focus is on the convergence of the three workstreams and creation of new links among members of the community.

EHTEL’s role in this process is as clear as ever: establishing a collaboration platform that fosters capacity-building and education and draws on existing use cases to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

In 2021, these goals will be achieved through holding over eight webinars and workshops, with the support of the different projects EHTEL is part of and collaboration among its various working groups and task forces.

In particular, if you are interested in the hot topics emerging in Horizon Europe – like Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, and challenges to mental health – attending these webinars and workshops offers a good opportunity to understand how to integrate and mainstream relevant technologies.

A more detailed calendar of events will be made available in the coming weeks.

Keep an eye on our Twitter and LinkedIn pages to be the first to know about the exciting opportunities that lie ahead!