With eHealth towards better health, towards quality, safety and efficient health care

Health is interest of every individual as well as of every society. In health care we use more and more new technologies. It is very important to work properly with the information. Thanks to computers, networks and internet information, there can be better store, sort, search and above all better exchange and share.

Our objective is to use all existing information for further decision. It is therefore necessary, that all existing information are available at time and place where decisions are made on further care.

Nowadays, the provision of health care creates enormous amounts of information thanks to a very advanced technology. Getting information is connected by high costs, both personnel and material and financial. Information is the result of work of top experts who use very expensive equipment and materials. Getting information is always linked with some limitations and risks for the patient. It can be loss of time, discomfort, but also pain or risk of complications, sometimes very serious. It is very irresponsible when such information exists, but is not available for further use for the benefit of the patient.

The information is important for disease prevention and health promotion. We see a growing demand among citizens for information on healthy lifestyles, care on health, about prevention. Citizens also demand information about their rights and obligations, on the organization of healthcare, health insurance, and recently also on the possibilities of treatment abroad. There are certainly thousands of applications that support healthy lifestyles and prevention and millions of source of information. For users, it is useful, when the states, institutions or society in some way guarantee the reliability of some sources of information. The language of information is important for individual citizen. We have to provide information in their mother tongue and in a form comprehensible to persons with basic education.

New technology brings new opportunities in the area of long-term care services for the chronically ill and elderly. New technologies enable better and more dignified life of the citizens, allowing them to live at home in their own environment, instead of living in institutions. The technology allows communication between the senior and his nurse or doctor, and at the same time with family and friends. Furthermore, this technology enables to call for help if necessary or locate people in buildings and in open terrain. More and more technologies are being implemented to enable monitoring of the biological condition of a person from a distance.

In the European Parliament, I shall endeavor to make the new information and communication technologies for health and health care more accessible to citizens of member countries and to serve them better. I support measures to greater interoperability of health information. Information generated in one hospital in one country must be understandable and transferable to other hospitals, and other countries. I support the measures of the European Commission to create a common data standard that each individual member country and especially individual software producers could voluntarily use. Similarly I support agreement on common rules for the electronic identification of individuals, not only for healthcare purposes, as well as Ambient Assisted Living project promoting independent and dignified life of elderly and chronically ill.