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
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- making progress in data-driven innovation in the field of health (2017/C440/05) and the European
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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.
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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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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
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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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