Another influential pioneer of eHealth was able to do an interview with us. Fabio Miraglia is the President of E-health commission for European Association private hospital. He mentions his hopes and dreams as well as challenges that eHealth innovators have to face. We will see him at the eHealth 360° Summit in Budapest (14-16 June 2016), where he will be talking about success stories and patient-centric approach.
Could you introduce the scope of your work and tell us what kind of expertise you will bring to the eHealth 360° Summit?
I will bring mostly the wealth of experience gained in C.H.I.CO. Cluster of Health Innovation and Community, since it was founded as a facilitator for the transfer of knowledge and technologies from research to industry in order to develop innovative projects in the field of health and well-being. In the framework of C.H.I.CO., Cluster of Health Innovation and Community, we are also working on Research and Innovation in the field of ICT for Health and Well-being with the aims to reduce costs of healthcare and to improve well-being.
I share my working time among the Organizations with different assignments as follows:
– CEO of RSA GIOMI s.r.l., a company of GIOMI Group s.p.a., which provides health care services and manages aged care hospices.
– Professor in Charge of Health Economics at the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria.
– Chairperson of Unindustria Latina, belonging to the Unindustria Lazio Region system (Association of Manufacturers and Enterprises of Rome, Frosinone, Latina, Rieti, Viterbo municipalities), and the Association represent, promote and develop member industrial companies and their interests.
– President of C.H.I.CO. Cluster of Health Innovation and Community, the first Health Cluster of the Lazio Region (Italy), which is a private not-for-profit membership organisation for Life Science and Healthcare sectors.
What do you see as the biggest challenge that eHealth is currently facing?
At present, countries all over the world are trying to move completely to the digital systems where they can share information and patients’ data online, more easily and more effectively, between physicians and medical institutions. Therefore, Information and Communication Technology for health and well-being (eHealth) is becoming increasingly important to deliver top-quality care to citizens.
As a matter of fact, the European Commission’s eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020 provides a roadmap to empower patients and healthcare workers, to link up devices and technologies, and to invest in research towards the personalized medicine of the future.
Finally, supporting eHealth sector is likely to open markets and to create more opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises and industry.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future of eHealth?
eHealth is one of the best tools to prevent and to counteract the aging of the population, the rise of chronic diseases, and the growing costs that they involve. Since older and/or ill citizens often suffer from lower mobility, I think that digital technologies have enormous potential to improve healthcare to everyone’s benefit. Monitoring a patient’s health in conjunction with their doctor’s expertise enhanced by these tools would be a great way to keep the citizens healthier over a longer time.
Registrations for eHealth 360° Summit 2016 are open! Find out more.
