Thursday, 10 March 2022 (11:00- 12:00 CET)
This 60-minute session is the second of a European Health Union Initiative webinar series with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, organised in close cooperation the European Health Forum Gastein. This initiative aims at advancing the European Health Union beyond crisis preparedness adding value for societies and citizens.
Digital tools hold the potential to improve the efficiency, accessibility, and quality of care. But even if the technologies are available, we cannot fully use them because there is a digital skills-gap in the health workforce.
During the COVID-19 pandemic many digital health tools moved from being viewed as a potential opportunity to becoming an immediate necessity. The use of those tools increased substantially including tools for E-health, M-Health, and Big-data.
Continued progress, however, cannot be taken for granted. The question is therefore how the European Union can support further progress closing the digital skills-gap empowering the health workforce. This is particularly relevant as we have a mobile health workforce crossing borders in Europe. Digital skills should therefore be ensured in all countries. The EU’s role in closing the skills-gap is also relevant because it invests in building back better our health systems. The recovery and resilience facility holds substantial budgets for digitalization. And finally, the European Commission, being mindful of progress in other regions in the world, is supporting a digital skills strategy for all economic sectors to ensure necessary modernization.
What’s the EU’s role in supporting the closure of the skills-gap with regards to regulation, funding, quality standards and technical issues?
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