Taking care of one’s health in the EU will be made easier and safer thanks to improved and secure digital services.

The European Parliament just gave the green light to the eHealth Action Plan. BEUC had long called for such a text to define a clear strategy to make digital healthcare services progress. The current system needs a thorough upgrade as European consumers cannot fully benefit from digital services when it comes to get treatment, being reimbursed, etc.

On top of cut waiting time and error rates, reduced costs and better healthcare, the protection of patients’ personal data is also one of the Action Plan’s improvements. Although controlling one’s own health via a mobile application can be of great help, BEUC had flagged eHealth as a potential threat to patients’ privacy. After lengthy discussions, the new 2012-2020 plan is to endorse data protection, making sure patients’ data will not fall into the wrong hands.