In my role as the Project Director for the GSMA Embedded Mobile Health programme I was invited to attend the annual Eucomed/MedTech conference that was held in Brussels last week. I had encountered Eucomed in my role on the Industry Advisor Board of the EU Renewing Health Programme, but this was the first time that I had attended one of their events. If you haven’t heard of them, they represent the medical technology industry in Europe and the attendees represented a variety of key stakeholders from the medical IT community.
 
One of the major streams of the conference focused on eHealth and its deployment into mainstream healthcare systems. The event was fascinating for me as the topics that were discussed were all the same as those being debated in the mHealth community but from a different point of view. The event also strengthened my view that mHealth and eHealth are much the same thing, but just a different channel to market (using a very mobile term!);  each with their own challenges but with a common set of barriers that need addressing to enable them to reach their full potential.
 
One of my highlights from the conference were the debates around the need for an addressable market for eHealth. During the sessions we heard stories from device manufacturers involved in developing eHealth solutions.  During development they were frequently told by the healthcare community how critical and urgent these solutions were, yet when they went to market there was no interest in sales!
 
To respond to this issue, EucoMed have developed their Contract for a Healthy Future.  In it, the medical device industry commits to do their part to make European healthcare systems more sustainable by committing to change, including focusing on efforts towards value-based innovation, cost-efficiency and outcomes.  Within it they also lay down a challenge to other stakeholders to change, with succinct demands for each group:
 
Policymakers
Foster access to new technology
Build better cost models and end silo-based budgeting
 
Payers
Achieve health productivity and efficiency by prioritising value not price
Reward innovations which address the challenges facing society
 
Healthcare professionals
See technology as an enabler of change
Embrace the power of patients and other stakeholders in health decision making
 
Healthcare institutions
Work together for productivity
Embrace bold changes to how care is delivered
 
Patients
Play a more active role in managing their own care
Be open to new care models
 
Along with these very clear asks, the document also outlines the need for change in a very focused way and the reason why keeping the current model for delivering care is not an option. I found the whole debate very engaging and provocative.  It was refreshing to see the case for change outlined in such a stark manner with clear proof points showing why the healthcare industry can no longer bury its head in the sand and will have to change.  It pushes the message that the current system can no longer provide care for all of its citizens as they do not have the beds, the staff or the money.
 
As I walked away from the event I was left wondering if the real reason for the lack of progress in the deployment of eHealth is not barriers such as regulation and reimbursement,  which can all be addressed, but the lack of desire from healthcare providers and medical communities to make the changes required to meet the healthcare challenges of the future!        
 
If you would like to find out more about Eucomed, details of their work can be found on their website.

Richard Cockle, Project Director, GSMA Embedded Mobile Health programme