eSanté - History

'eSanté' or 'eHealth' refers to the use of tools and solutions based on new information and communication technology (ICT) in the healthcare sector to facilitate and improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and medical monitoring, as well as health and lifestyle management. These tools and solutions are intended for the health authorities and healthcare professionals, as well as patients and citizens, and include, for example, medical information networks, electronic medical records, telemedicine services and health portals.

Many countries around the world have embarked on ambitious, large-scale programmes intended to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare using new information and communication technology.

The European Commission encourages investment in ICT in the healthcare sector. To this end, in 2004, it adopted a recommendation asking each Member State to develop an eHealth roadmap. In 2007, the Commission launched a European project to encourage the exchange of patient summary data and ePrescriptions between EU Member States (epSOS project). This large-scale pilot online health project is supported by the European authorities and its results are circulated through the CALLIOPE network, of which Luxembourg is a member.

At the end of 2006, the Luxembourg Government Council (Conseil de Gouvernement) adopted the national eSanté action plan. The objectives pursued by this plan include better exchange or sharing of health data between healthcare professionals to improve the quality and performance of healthcare and better manage changes in health spending, in particular by avoiding duplicated examinations and analyses. These days, it is becoming increasingly common for patients to be treated by more than one healthcare professional. Treatment can take place in hospital, but also in outpatient clinics or at home, meaning that information needs to be sent between professionals to guarantee coordinated, quality healthcare.

The action plan also seeks to empower citizens to manage their own health by involving them more in their care and giving them information relevant for management of their personal health.

The applications included in the national eSanté action plan will be introduced gradually as part of a multiannual programme based on a common telematics platform, while ensuring monitoring of projects and adequate quality control under the leadership of the Ministry of Health.

To create this common telematics platform and come up with the first applications, a feasibility study was initiated in 2008.

The Ministry of Health had asked CR Santec to conduct a needs analysis and a technical feasibility study on the creation of this platform.

This preliminary work was supplemented by a second study carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the organisational and financial aspect of the future eSanté platform.

The Luxembourg Health Minister had asked the consultancy firm to evaluate the costs, benefits and organisational challenges of creating such a platform.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers study, which comprises, on the one hand, a comparative analysis of existing eHealth services in various countries and, on the other hand, a transposition of these results to the Luxembourg context, is available in the 'Find out more' box below.

Actions completed

Since the launch of the national eSanté programme, a number of projects have been put in place:

• creation of HealthNet, an information exchange network specifically for healthcare professionals and institutions,
• exchange of the results of laboratory analyses between prescribing doctors and laboratories (eSanté-LABO),
• development of a prototype electronic radiological record (eSanté-CARA) for keeping track of all of a patient's medical imaging examinations,
• development and launch of a Health Portal,
• digitalisation of the Mammography Programme, allowing the reference centre to review images within the context of the breast cancer screening programme,
• implementation of the LuHF pilot project: home monitoring of patients with heart failure,
• creation of the eSanté Agency EIG, the national agency responsible for setting up a platform for sharing and exchanging healthcare data, comprising the Electronic Healthcare Record (Dossier de soins partagé), and a national interoperability strategy for healthcare information systems.

Conclusion

eSanté is a huge project that is set to continue for many years. It involves investment, partnership between different stakeholders, a pooling of resources, and technical choices that apply to all. There are many challenges to overcome, from an organisational and technical point of view, to ensure that these new tools contribute to the quality of our health services, while guaranteeing the protection of personal data. In this undertaking, the patient must remain at the centre of efforts and little by little become an essential healthcare partner.