Portugal: Centralizing Digital Health Decision Making and Solution Design
This episode gives an in-depth insight into healthcare digitalization in Portugal. Cátia Sousa Pinto, Head of Global Digital Health and International Affairs at SPMS – shared services of ministry of health of Portugal talked about healthcare digitalization in Portugal, European Health Data Space (EHDS), patient data and more.
Key Points Summary
- Portugal’s Digital Health Leadership: Portugal has been a leader in digital health within Europe, with early advancements like the creation of a national eHealth agency (SPMS) over a decade ago.
- SPMS Role: SPMS plays a dual role, not only regulating but also developing and maintaining ICT solutions for Portugal’s healthcare system. This centralization helps prevent fragmentation and ensures interoperability.
- European Health Data Space (EHDS): EHDS is the EU’s regulatory framework for cross-border health data sharing, building on initiatives like MyHealth@EU. The goal is to allow seamless healthcare across Europe, where any EU citizen can access healthcare in other countries as if they were at home.
- My Health at EU: A foundational initiative that enables cross-border exchange of health data like patient summaries and e-prescriptions between EU countries.
- Patient Data: Catia emphasized the importance of patients controlling their health data and being able to share it across healthcare providers. This includes e-prescriptions, laboratory results, and, eventually, medical images.
- Portugal’s National Electronic Health Record: A key project for the country is the creation of a unified electronic health record system, allowing citizens to access all of their health data, both public and private, from a single source.
- Use of EU Funding: Portugal has allocated €300 million from the EU’s recovery funds for digital health transformation, focusing on infrastructure, citizen-centric services, and reducing the burden on healthcare professionals.
- Challenges and Future Outlook: The integration of digital health into national governance and improving interoperability between systems remain ongoing challenges. Katia stressed the importance of moving towards real-time, structured health data to improve future healthcare outcomes.
www.facesofdigitalhealth.com
Newsletter: https://fodh.substack.com/
Show notes:
[00:02:00] – Overview of Digital Health in Portugal
[00:06:00] – National-Level Initiatives and Successes
[00:10:00] – European Health Data Space (EHDS) and My Health at EU
[00:16:00] – Cross-Border Care and Digital Infrastructure
[00:20:00] – The Role of SPMS in Portugal’s Digital Health Journey
[00:30:00] – Challenges and Workforce Management in Digital Health
[00:34:00] – Benefits of Centralization in Small Countries
[00:38:00] – Electronic Health Records and Expanding Digital Services, Secondary use of data [00:42:00] – Portugal’s National Electronic Health Record
[00:46:00] – Future Vision for Health Data Integration
