Portugal: Centralizing Digital Health Decision Making and Solution Design

Faces of Digital Health

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 System Design: To accelerate digital health development, Portugal created 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.

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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