Unlocking the Potential of Mobile Health in Europe: Removing Barriers to the Empowerment of Citizens

Date: Wednesday, 20 January 2016 10:00 – 16:30

Place: Thon Hotel Brussels Centre  |  City: Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium

According to BCC Research’s ‘Mobile health Technologies and Global Markets Report’ (2014), the global mHealth market is projected to grow to nearly $21.5 billion by 2018, with the EU set to be the largest market for mHealth solutions over the next decade. As healthcare systems in Europe are currently facing new challenges such as the ageing of the population and increasing budgetary pressure, the costs of health and social care will rise substantially to about 9% of EU GDP in 2050.

Mobile Health presents itself as an emerging and developing field with the potential to transform current healthcare systems and provide a solution to tackle existing issues whilst contributing towards increasing the systems’ quality and efficiency.

Covering medical and public health practices supported by mobile devices, mHealth focuses particularly on the use of mobile communication devices for health & well-being services and information purposes as well as mobile health applications. It also includes applications such as ‘lifestyle & wellbeing apps’ that may connect to medical devices and provide health information and medication reminders by sms and wirelessly.

With an expanding number of European citizens using smartphones and 3G/4G networks, the use of mHealth solutions has considerably increased. Through the use of sensors and apps which measure vital signs such as heart rate, blood glucose level or body temperature, mHealth allows the collection of medical, physiological, lifestyle and daily activity data which could support the delivery of high-quality healthcare by helping healthcare professionals to make more accurate diagnosis and treatments, as well as to develop a more personalised medication while encouraging prevention and observance to more healthy lifestyles.

As described by the European Commission’s Green Paper on mHealth (April 2014), mobile health solutions appear as a solid basis for patients’ empowerment, allowing them to manage their health more actively without leaving their own home environment. However, in order to consider mHealth as an efficient and safe tool for the management and provision of healthcare, several potential issues and barriers must be targeted at both European and national level. Amongst these, the lack of a clear legal EU framework on mHealth, the need to guarantee patients’ data protection and safety as well as the urgency of overcoming the lack of interoperability between EU healthcare systems, as identified by the EC’s Public Consultation on Mobile Health (2014).    

This International Symposium provides a timely opportunity for practitioners and stakeholders across Europe to discuss the challenges and latest developments that mHealth services in the EU are currently facing. Public Policy Exchange welcomes the participation of all key partners, responsible authorities and stakeholders. The symposium will support the exchange of ideas and encourage delegates to engage in thought-provoking topical debates. 

 Delegates will:

• Assess the current state of affairs of mHealth policies at EU level
• Discuss users’ data protection and privacy issues related to the use of mHealth solutions
• Explore ways to ensure patients’ safety and transparency of information
• Gain knowledge on the interoperability of mHealth services

Programme