The importance of capacity-building in European digital health
Capacity-building was an important topic tackled at the HIMSS Health 2.0 conference, held on 11-13 June 2019, in Helsinki, Finland.
EHTEL General Secretary, Marc LANGE, reflected: “To build capacity in digital health, everyone needs a toolkit. Some tools still need to be tried and tested. Yet there are already some very exciting tools publicly available in Europe.”
Using solid, workable tools can really come in useful when efforts are made to scale up European digital health. Especially if institutions, sites, and locations are trying to swap approaches and initiatives (“to twin”), then they need means and methods to improve and retain their capacity.
Capacity-building has for many years been core to the ambitions of non-governmental organisations and developing countries. Now, capacity-building is being brought into a new role in the digital transformation of health and care in Europe.
A rapid scan of the European horizon shows that there are many ways in which Europeans – whether individuals or organisations – can obtain, improve and retain their skills and competencies. The scaling-up of digital health, particularly in terms of integrated care, will surely benefit.
Turning the spotlight on just a few initiatives:
- MOMENTUM – 18 critical success factors point the way to how to expand telehealth and telecare in Europe (see “Resources”): https://www.ehtel.eu/activities/eu-funded-projects/momentum.html
- SCIROCCO – A 12-dimension maturity model helps you to identify what you need to do to expand your good digital health practices: https://www.ehtel.eu/activities/eu-funded-projects/scirocco.html
- Twinning schemes – Linking up with others is a great method for handing on your own good practice or learning about someone else’s: https://digitalhealtheurope.eu/twinnings/twinning-marketplace.html and https://ec.europa.eu/eip/ageing/reference-sites_en
Yet more opportunities are coming up:
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DigitalHealthEurope – When aiming to empower citizens and to build a healthier Europe, it is good to have a collection of good practice evidence at your fingertips: https://digitalhealtheurope.eu
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SCIROCCOExchange – Watch this space! Kronikgune, the Basque Country’s Institute for Health Services Research is leading on how to define, scope, and design a strategy for mapping capacity-building.
These five examples show what can be the golden opportunities to use new and emerging tools and techniques that will ensure greater capacity in digital health throughout Europe.
EHTEL is really keen to ensure that we help people to build capacity in digital health, whether at the level of individuals, organisations, or health and care systems.
Europe has great assets and resources, and Europeans need to make more of them!
For more information about capacity building in European healthcare download the publication: At the cross-roads for building capacity in digital trasformation.