Page 7 - Lessons learned from Ebola & COVID19 - June 2020
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of  digital  innovations  and  social  economy,  (namely  through  European  Electronic  Health  Records  –  being  a
               growing priority for the EU Institutions, as pointed out in the Council Conclusions on Health in the Digital Society
                                                                                        19
               -  making  progress  in  data-driven  innovation  in  the  field  of  health  (2017/C440/05)   and  the  European
                                                                                                       20
               Commission  Recommendation  on  a  European  Electronic  Health  Record  exchange  format  (C(2019)800) ).
               Advanced  application  of  health  data  and  artificial intelligence  in  nursing care  can  support  clinical  decision-
               making by improving clinical pathways interpretation and enabling more effective care processes and outcomes.
                                    21
               A recent Communication  from the European Commission on ‘enabling the digital transformation of health and
               care in the Digital Single Market - empowering citizens and building a healthier society’ is a key starting point for
               change.

               For digital health to deliver its full potential, co-designed tools and programmes, co-created with nurses, is a
               facilitator for successful deployment and as such, an investment for being prepared. Among all the new digital
               health  tools,  Electronic  Health  Records  have  the  most  significant  potential  for  change  when  it  comes  to
               improving the quality of cross-border care and interoperability. The importance of electronic health records and
               end-user involvement in co-creation is being positively demonstrated in two EU-funded projects working on
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                                                  22
               Electronic  Health  Records,  InteropEHRate   and  Smart4Health ,  with  the  determine  ambition  to  digitalise
               healthcare to support health for all across Europe. Positioning nurses and nursing central to digital health policy
               design and ensuring that they can use and develop their eSkills, to their full capacity, can lead to improved
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               citizens and patients’ health and well-being, enabling the achievement of Universal Health Coverage .

               Therefore, within the context of the digitalisation of the EU health systems, it is key to:
                   ✓  Have fast and full access to Electronic Health Records (EHR) in order to be able to diagnosis, plan and
                       care for patient in an effective and efficient way;
                   ✓  Boost continuity of care throughout the patient’s journey by using fit-for-purpose digital tools;
                   ✓  Deploy digital tools and systems that reduce the workload of nurses and safeguard the quality of care.

               In 2015, the 5 guidelines published by the EFN at the end of a 2-year European Commission funded project on
                               25
               eHealth (ENS4Care)  showed  the importance of having the health and social ecosystem, or its redesign, with
               frontline, strengthening nurses capacity, and of bringing knowledge together, to be ready to address frontline
               concerns and offering immediate solutions for preparedness. The developed evidence based ICT guidelines for
               eHealth services in nursing and social care are essential for preparedness at local level and are based on 175
               existing good practices in the EU, in five core areas: prevention, clinical practice, advanced roles, integrated care
               and nurse ePrescribing. Moving towards preventive care will make digital health deliver at its fullest potential,
               with  nurses  co-designing  tools  and  programmes,  facilitate  access  and  successful  deployment  in  the  many
               environments in which nurses are located, including home care and nursing homes, hospitals and primary care
               settings. We are only prepared if we are all prepared, including community care.














               19  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2017:440:0003:0009:EN:PDF
               20  https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/recommendation-european-electronic-health-record-exchange-format
               21  https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/communication-enabling-digital-transformation-health-and-care-digital-single-
               market-empowering
               22  http://www.InteropEHRate.eu - EU project funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under
               the grant agreement: No. 826106.
               23  http://www.smart4health.eu - EU project funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under
               the grant agreement: No. 826117.
               24  https://www.who.int/health-topics/universal-health-coverage
               25  http://www.efnweb.be/?page_id=7060


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