The agreement, signed 17 December, should create new opportunities for businesses in e-health, especially in the United States where the vast majority of general practitioners still use paper and pen to create patient profiles and little is automated.
As part of the Obama administration’s healthcare initiative, the country will invest around $20 billion to get doctors online and exchanging patient records, test results and other information.
Technological advancements are seen as one of the key ways of lowering the health care costs while improving the safety and quality of care. In the United States, for example, about 18% of the country’s gross domestic production is spent on health care versus roughly 11% in Germany.
Aging baby-boomers
And that is especially true now as governments on both sides of the Atlantic brace for aging baby boomers to enter retirement and decline in health.
Over the next 20 years, the number of Europeans over the age of 65 will rise by nearly 40%, stressing health systems – many of which are already operating beyond capacity. "It doesn’t matter where you are on the curve, if your costs are rising, if you are seeing 2, 3, or 4% escalations [in annual health care costs], you know something has to change," said Bill Crounse, senior director of worldwide health for Microsoft Corp.
The memorandum of understanding signed by European Commissioner Neelie Kroes and Kathleen Sebelius, US secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services will establish joint working groups, scientific conferences and workshops to identify strategies for achieving shared goals.
"It is an excellent basis for the Commission and the US authorities to expand our cooperation on promoting the overall benefits of e-health for patients, health systems and companies," Kroes said in a statement.
Challenges
Of course coordinating EU-US e-health strategies will face many challenges, including different cultural and legal views on privacy and data security. Nevertheless, health care is one of the target areas of the EU’s digital agenda, which is one of the flagship initiatives of its Europe 2020 strategy.
In October, the Commission announced plans for a partnership on active and healthy aging. The Commission is seeking public comments and plans to unveil its priorities early next year for a pilot European Innovation Partnership. The partnership will identify barriers to innovation and opportunities in the field of active and healthy aging.
