Öffentliches Auftragswesen soll Nachfrage nach E-Health stärken[en] 

eHealth and telemedicine are certainly emerging as possible tools to provide high quality, affordable care in an ageing Europe, agreed the participants. 

However, as there is currently no European eHealth market, a booming services market in the sector will not be created overnight, they noted (EurActiv 07/01/08). 

According to the Commission, the eHealth market is set to double from the current €20 billion to some €50 billion by 2010. Annual growth estimates in telemedicine are expected to be around 19%, bringing the market value from €4.7 to €11.2 billion by 2012.

Whereas information and communication technologies (ICT) are expected to bring increased productivity to the healthcare sector, this potential is currently hampered by low investment and low competition in the eHealth sector. Trade in healthcare currently occurs on an insignificant scale but "much more is possible," according to a participant.

"Eventually health care will become a market like any another service market, because otherwise it is not sustainable," predicted another participant. Thus national healthcare markets for eHealth are not considered large enough to be sustainable as "competition will be international". However, it was noted that without real policy support for the process, the eHealth market could eventually lead to increased inequities in access to care.

It was underlined that if no market for eHealth and telemedicine currently exists, it is because the market is created by demand and current demand is difficult to articulate and design. Therefore, "public procurement is the key" to creating demand, several participants noted. The Commission proposed in late 2007 to relax rules on pre-commercial procurement to drive innovation on sustainable public services (EurActiv 18/12/07).

"Deployment of eHealth will imply changes in the delivery of healthcare as well as in the management of medical knowledge and clinical practices," noted a Commission official, adding that eHealth is moving care towards a more personalised setting. Personalised healthcare is about care at home and about gathering integrated health records through constant monitoring of various health conditions of a person. Thus the Commission is currently supporting research on biosensors  and biochips as well as environmental, genomic  and phenomic data.  

Next steps towards creating a 'Common EU eHealth Area' include a Commission Recommendation on the cross-border interoperability of electronic health record systems, expected in May 2008. Large-scale EU pilot projects on the interoperability of emergency and medication data (prescriptions) are to be launched in June 2008. A Commission Communication on telemedicine and innovative ICT solutions for chronic disease management is due to be published at the end of 2008.