eHealth, further than you think

The Netherlands faces the challenge of ensuring that healthcare retains a good level of quality and remains accessible and affor­dable. The ageing of the population places a greater demand on healthcare, while at the same time the number of people able to provide care is decreasing. A quarter of citizens in the Netherlands have one or more chronic diseases, such as COPD or heart and vascular diseases (Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environ­ment (RIVM), 2013). A large share of healthcare costs are spent on caring for this group. To slow down the increase in healthcare costs while ensuring that it is still possible to offer the requisite healthcare with the available staffing levels, it is necessary to organise healthcare differently.

eHealth – the use of new information and communication technologies and in particular internet technology to support and enhance health and healthcare – offers opportunities for promoting the freedom and self-sufficiency of patients and can be applied to help organise healthcare more efficiently. eHealth therefore offers an impor­tant means of future-proofing healthcare. In her Letter to the Parliament on eHealth dated June 2012, the Dutch Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) set out these opportunities, while making the point that adoption of eHealth by patients and professionals alike is a necessary condition for eHealth to succeed. With this in mind, she arranged for actual develop­ments and progress in the use of eHealth to be monitored on a yearly basis. Core aspects to be monitored are the extent to which eHealth applications are available, the extent to which they are used, factors affecting the use of eHealth (positively or negatively) and the effects experienced.
 
This document provides a summary of the findings of the first eHealth monitor, which was conducted by Nictiz and NIVEL in the first half of 2013. It is an initial survey of doctors, health­care users2 and a number of other stakeholders, and will be repeated each year. As of 2014, it will be possible to identify trends. What’s more, by comparing the findings of this eHealth monitor with international surveys and other studies, it will provide an initial overview of where the Netherlands currently stands and what developments can be expected. Because eHealth is a broad concept, focus is placed on a number of specific ICT applications in healthcare. Applications were chosen that are expected to contribute to efficiency and affordability, as well as to the self-management of patients, continuity of healthcare, patient safety, quality of healthcare and accessibility.

Coöperating partner
Nictiz

eHealth monitor 2013 - infographic (2013)