More than 30 percent of the population of Europe will be over 65 years old in 2025. Over the next twenty years, it is expected that cases of chronic diseases such as diabetes will double or even triple, resulting in a lack of specialists and health professionals. Furthermore, in countries such as France, Germany and Belgium, health care spending is increasing faster than growth in GDP. This situation means that if trends such as the increase in life expectancy and chronic diseases, among other factors, continue, in a few years health care systems will not be viable.
Lack of efficiency
Today, it is estimated that staff costs account for between 50 and 70% of the costs of health care, but as we shall see, most of the time spent by health professionals is not in attending patients, but carrying out bureaucratic procedures. According to information from the Spanish government, current health care systems require professionals to dedicate between 30 and 50% of their time on administrative tasks instead of patient care. The solution? Experts point out that health systems need to improve information management in order to maximize the efficiency of their services. The implementation of information technology seems to be the best means available to achieve better results.
Telecare, electronic billing, software for mobile phones and electronic equipment are all tools which might provide solutions, and could be key in controlling and managing health spending more efficiently. The implementation of electronic medical records and e-bills is already being demonstrated to improve health system management, providing savings for governments.
Savings
A case study conducted by the Asklepios Hospital Group in Germany showed that annual costs per patient could be reduced by 36.7 percent through the use of electronic health solutions. The CEO of Asklepios, Uwe Pöttgen will be one of the key speakers at EHealth week 2011 to be held in Budapest between 10 and 12 May 2011.
According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), European health care systems require investment in excess of the rate of economic growth. Jeremy Bonfini, EVP of Global Services at HIMSS, which is co-organizing EHealth week, along with the Hungarian presidency of the European Union Council and the European Commission, states “We need IT systems that help healthcare professionals to spend less time on bureaucracy and more time treating their patients.”
