1. Innovation in Technologies
EUSBSR Annual Forum 2015, Jurmala
Professor Dr. Roland Trill
Director Institute for eHealth and Management in Health Care
Flensburg University of Applied Sciences
Head of Management Secretariat of the eHealth for Regions Network

2. Agenda
Challenges in Health Care
Roles of eHealth Applications and Technologies (Technological Innovations)
Recommendations

3. Challenges of todays Health Care systems
Supply and demand of health care services
time
Gap1
Gap2
Gap3
Supply
Demand

4. eHealth-Applications and –Technologies can benefit!
Action alternatives
Budget increase
Price increase
Rationing
Unrealistic
Deepening inequality and injustice regarding access to health care services
Politically unacceptable
BUT:
eHealth-Applications and –Technologies can benefit!

5. How health care systems could benefit from innovative eHealth services
Reduction of demand
Health portal
Telecoaching
Personal health record
Supply and demand of health care services
Demand
Increase in productivity
Teleconferencing
Teleconsulting
Teleradiology
Electronic patient record
Gap3
Supply
Gap2
Gap1
time

6. Health Care 2020 – a look into the future
(Bain,2011)

7. Status Quo in BSR
Many projects about eHealth applications, mainly about
caring for elderly with chronic diseases (e.g. ICT for
Health by the eHealth for Regions Network)
Lack of projects dealing with the improvement of Health &
eHealth Literacy for reducing costs of health care services

8. Health Literacy is seen as the key for health-promoting behaviour.
Health Literacy - Definition
The WHO defines Health Literacy as the totality of all cognitive and social skills which motivates people and enables them to adopt a health-promoting lifestyle.
Health Literacy is seen as the key for health-promoting behaviour. (

9. Standardised Health Literacy Score
(European Health Literacy Survey)

10. Opportunities from an improved Health Literacy
Risk-conscious health behaviour
Increased use of prevention and screening measures
Improved treatment adherence and compliance
Improved self-management of risk factors / diseases
Decreased hospitalization
Improved physical and mental health
Decrease of early death risk
Decrease in treatment and health care costs
According to estimates by the WHO the share of health expenditures due to insufficient Health Literacy is 3%-5%. (

11. Each patient carries his or her own doctor with him/her
Each patient carries his or her own doctor with him/her. The patient just don‘t know it yet and visits us. The most important is to give this own inner doctor the chance to be active.
(Albert Schweitzer)
Jeder Patient trägt seinen eigenen Arzt in sich. Der Patient weiß das noch nicht und kommt zu uns. Das Beste und Wichtigste ist, diesem inneren Arzt im Patienten die Chance zu geben, aktiv zu werden.

12. European becoming enthuasistic users of online health information.
( ( )

13. eHealth Literacy
„eHealth Literacy is the ability to seek, find, understand and appraise health information from electronic resources and apply such knowledge to adressing or solving a health problem“
(Stellefson at all, 2011)
(Norman/Skinner,2006)

14. Recommendations
Set up more projects dealing with approaches to improve (e)Health Literacy. Create a forum to exchange experience and knowledge transnationally.
Explore new fields of application and new business markets for eHealth applications. New services create new opportunities for SMEs.
Focus more on prevention and health promotion. Address new target groups such as children and adolescents.
Keep and expand the leading role in eHealth in the BSR.

15. Thank you!