The Brussels-based organization has put out a call for comments by July 3, after which the commission will publish a summary of the responses by the end of the year. Possible policy actions are expected in 2015.
"mHealth will reduce costly visits to hospitals, help citizens take charge of their own health and well-being and move towards prevention rather than cure. It is also a great opportunity for the booming app economy and for entrepreneurs," European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said in a press release. "I personally use a sports-band on my wrist to measure how active I am from day to day, so I am a great supporter of mHealth already. Please send us your input into this consultation to help us become global leaders in this fascinating area."
Added European Commissioner for Health Tonio Berg in the release: "mHealth has great potential to empower citizens to manage their own health and stay healthy longer, to trigger greater quality of care and comfort for patients and to assist health professionals in their work. As such, exploring mHealth solutions can contribute to modern, efficient and sustainable health systems."
The commission is seeking input from consumer and patient organizations, health professionals, public authorities, app developers, telecom providers, mobile device manufacturers and anyone else interested in the field. Among the questions the commission wants answered are:
- What safety and performance requirements should apply to lifestyle and well-being apps?
- What security safeguards can be used to protect health data in mHealth uses?
- How should mHealth entrepreneurship be promoted in Europe?
The commission included mHealth in its "eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020," published in 2012, and pointed out that issues still needing to be addressed include the safety of mHealth apps, lack of interoperability among solutions, and lack of stakeholder knowledge about legal issues surrounding mHealth.
The commission also pointed out that there are almost 100,000 mHealth apps now available to the public, with the top 20 free health, fitness and sports apps accounting for some 231 million downloads worldwide. If mHealth were fully realized, the commission said, it could save roughly 99 billion pounds in annual health care costs among the EU nations.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Eric Wicklund
Quelle/Source: mHealthNews, 10.04.2014
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