A new European project promoting personal health system (PHS) interoperability has been launched with support from industry group the Continua Health Alliance.
The Smart Personal Health initiative will build awareness of the need for interoperability among PHS and other e-health systems in Europe.
The 12-month project will feature regional stakeholder workshops and finally deliver recommendations to the European Commission (EC).
The aim of the project is to realise the potential benefits of the personal health devices and applications that are currently reaching the European market. To form an effective healthcare ecosystem, these medical devices need to be able to transfer data across a wide variety of systems and networks.
The EC's Communication on Telemedicine called for action to support a wider understanding among key stakeholders of interoperability in personal healthcare. The EC has funded Smart Personal Health to drive this process.
Funding from the EC for this project has been received by the Continua Health Alliance, an international organisation of leading healthcare and technology companies working together to establish a system of interoperable personal health solutions.
"Smart Personal Health will foster increased dialogue among those responsible for interoperability between personal health systems in Europe," said Charles Parker, executive director, Continua Health Alliance. "We at Continua are excited to be a part of this groundbreaking collaboration within the EU. Interoperability will be crucial to achieve the full potential of connected health systems to increase health care access, enhance patient outcomes, improve population health and control costs."
Activities of Smart Personal Health will include three regional workshops and a pan-European PHS Interoperability Conference. A final report to the EC will highlight barriers and incentives to the development and adoption of interoperable PHS and make recommendations to the EC, national governments, stakeholder groups and the medtech industry.