eSanté - National programme

'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.

National eSanté programme

Since the national eSanté action plan was launched in 2006, various projects and applications have been gradually introduced within the context of a multiannual programme, while ensuring monitoring of projects and adequate quality control under the leadership of the Ministry of Health. 

Following on from the implementation of this action plan, it was decided in 2010 to create a national agency responsible, amongst other things, for setting up a platform for sharing and exchanging health data. The eSanté Agency EIG that was created implemented the national eSanté services platform and rolled out the digital eHealth services below.

The national eSanté platform

The national eSanté services platform, which has been running since January 2014, offers tools for securely sharing and exchanging health information between and with healthcare professionals known to the platform, while meeting the requirements relating to protection of privacy.

eHealth in Europe

The development of eHealth was identified as one of the priorities of the European Commission in its 3 health action plans. Its third health programme covering the period 2014-2020 has 4 main objectives, including contributing to innovative, effective and viable health systems, as well as improving access for EU citizens to better quality, safer healthcare.

With the obligation for Member States to transpose Directive 2011/24/EU on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare into their national law, Member States are required to commit to the implementation of the 3 main objectives:

• clarify the rights of patients concerning their access to cross-border healthcare and its reimbursement,
• guarantee the quality and safety of the care they receive in another EU Member State,
• promote healthcare cooperation between Member States.

Under this same Directive, a voluntary network connecting the national authorities responsible for online health, as designated by the Member States, was set up: the 'eHealth Network'. This network has launched 2 Health programmes (covering the periods 2008-2013 and 2014-2020) and financed 2 joint actions whose mission is to feed information into the eHealth Network through proposals made by the technical experts at the institutions working to roll out eHealth in the Member States.