Digital necessity

Established in 2006, the Assembly of European Regions’ (AER) e-he@lth Network has become a valuable platform for interregional cooperation and an essential source of regional input to EU e-health policy. The network now has 125 members from 57 regions in 20 countries, and works closely with other stakeholders such as the European commission’s information society department. Membership is open to AER’s 260 member regions as well as organisations operating within a member region and under the direction of the regional authorities, and Agneta Granström, county councillor of Norrbotten, Sweden, is president of the network.

RM: How important is e-health for your region? Could you imagine life without it?

AG: Norbotten is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Europe. It covers a quarter of Sweden, yet it only has five hospitals. So naturally e-health plays a very important role in our region’s healthcare system, empowering patients and medical professionals by allowing primary healthcare centres and hospitals to relay information across vast distances electronically. Over the years it has become more for us than just a luxury of the digital age, it has become a necessity.

RM: Has it been an expensive necessity?

AG: In fact when we established a video conferencing network for our health centres and hospitals it took only four months for the system to pay for itself – now we are saving more and more money every month on travel costs.

RM: Why did you decide to get involved in AER’s e-he@lth network?

AG: E-health has been around for years in some regions, while in others it’s just starting to develop. My region has learnt so much from trial and error over the past 20 years: instead of building big hospitals and centres, we should have invested more in broadband, for instance. I would not want other regions to make the same mistakes we have made, and this network allows us to look at what each of us is doing, to analyse that information and develop strategies that benefit all our citizens.

RM: How are regional politicians taking to the emergence of e-health? Do you think they understand its crucial role in the future of healthcare?

AG: It’s sometimes difficult changing regional politicians’ usual way of thinking, getting them to “think outside the box”. Often they simply want to build more hospitals instead of investing in cheaper and smarter alternatives. The broad scope of our network and the involvement of politicians themselves – not just health professionals – is fostering a greater understanding of the benefits of e-health. And not only for patients and healthcare workers, but also for politicians trying to balance their budgets.

RM: And how is your relationship with the European commission? Is the commission listening to the regions?

AG: The commission now realises that healthcare policy should be driven by the regions and not the member states, since it is most often in the regions that healthcare competences lie. The commission is really starting to listen to what the regions have to say and taking on board our network’s concerns and proposals. Our relations with them are excellent in this respect, so this is a positive sign for the future of e-health in Europe.

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