Advancing healthcare: The digital evolution in Europe
If you were asked, which European country is leading the way in the digital evolution, how would you respond?
Understandably you might suggest…
Germany, France or Italy - the countries with the largest market revenue.¹
Or possibly…
Switzerland, Norway or the Netherlands – the countries with the highest Euro Health Consumer Index.²
But the answer is actually none of these.
Rewind ten years ago and the first steps on the journey towards a digital healthcare were being taken. Website and e-mail were becoming increasingly common between patient and healthcare system - however less than 10% of patients were using smartphone apps or social media to interact with the health system.⁶
Fast forward to now and the European Union have declared that we are in a ‘Digital Decade’.³ And as part of the EU’s Pharmaceutical Strategy, published in 2020, they are supporting digitalisation and new technologies.⁴ However, it’s up to member states to ensure this ecosystem comes to life - with no single European electronic health record (EHR) in place.
So which countries are actually leading the way?⁵
Estonia – they started in 2008, so it’s no surprised that by 2018 Estonia had digital records of every citizen’s health data.
Finland – Jump across the Baltic Sea to Finland, here they have more recently established a national EHR. In-fact the whole country is moving towards an integrated ‘e-Government’.
Denmark – They have developed several EHR systems which can integrate providing one common record for doctors and patients. This digital effort has reduced the number of outpatient visits by 75%.
Spain – Known as one of the go-to places for digital health start-ups, Spain has had the capacity for EHR for 20 years ago but it’s uptake and standardisation is varied.
Other countries are not far behind, making good progress in approving and supporting innovative digital solutions. In 2019, France committed to digitalisation healthcare plans, known as MyHealth2022 and Germany have put in digitalisation healthcare plans that allows insurers to cover digital health apps. However, the healthcare system is restricted as German physicians are reluctant to support a nationally operated EHR system, due data protection concerns.⁷
And in the UK?
According to the UK Health Secretary in 2013, the NHS were to go paperless by 2018. Perhaps a little unrealistic, and so the updated ambition is for a functioning EHR (shared care record) for each citizen by 2024. With 21% of NHS trusts deemed as digitally mature and 10% still relying heavily on paper, there is still a way to go.⁸
References:
¹ Pharmaceutical market revenue in Europe by country 2022 | Statista
² healthpowerhouse.com/media/EHCI-2018/EHCI-2018-report.pdf
³ Priorities of the European Union 2019-2024 | European Union (europa.eu)
⁵ Digitalizing healthcare in Europe : Which countries are leading the way in e-Health? - Alcimed
⁶ Healthcare’s digital future | McKinsey
⁷ The world of cloud-based services: storing health data in the cloud (healtheuropa.com)
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