Ilves: Innovation and Thinking Out of the Box Needed in Health Care
The European Union needs innovation for its health care sector to grow, said President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in Barcelona, where he was chairing the fourth meeting of the EU's e-health working group.
"Innovation is not just technology but a mindset and taking action ," said Ilves. "Above all, it means smashing organizational and legal barriers."
Ilves said the technology necessary for developing health care exists but there is too little ability to use it in a sector where the citizen - and his or her personal data, the possibility to use the data in treatment, prevention and research - should be at the center of everything.
"Our committee's final report must tell the EU that it is not worth investing only in technology, as it already exists but we also need to invest into organization changes, telemedicine, home monitoring, which are currently bottlenecks in use of that technology," said the head of state.
Kristopher Rikken