EU funding for the digital transformation of healthcare is broadly in line with Member States’ needs, but “there have been problems in using it”, according to a report by the EU’s Court of Auditors published on Wednesday 20 November.
The report on the digital transformation of healthcare in the EU shows that over the 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 periods, several EU programmes have funded such projects. Among these, cohesion policy and the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ (RRF) provided €2.4 billion and €13.6 billion respectively to finance projects to digitally transform healthcare systems in the Member States.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU’s framework for action to promote the digital transformation in healthcare has been strengthened, as the Court of Auditors points out. When analysing the responses to our survey, “we found that 18 of the 21 Member States that responded felt that the EU framework for action was appropriate”, according to the report.
The auditors found that the European Commission was providing generally effective support and guidance and that the projects audited in three countries (Spain, Malta and Poland) were contributing to the digital transformation of healthcare. For example, one project focused on improving remote electronic monitoring of chronic diseases, while another supported the creation of a national e-health platform.
The report highlights several problems. Member States have encountered obstacles in using EU funds, including the complexity of the range of funding options available, insufficient administrative capacity and difficulties in obtaining national co-financing. The auditors also found that neither the European Commission nor most Member States had at their disposal a comprehensive overview of the EU funds used for this digital transformation.
The Commission uses the eGovernment Benchmark (since 2022) and the Digital Decade eHealth Indicator (since 2023) to monitor the digital transformation of healthcare. These indicators use different methods and have different purposes but cover similar aspects of access to electronic medical records. The audit revealed shortcomings in this respect, particularly regarding the accuracy of the information provided and the rating method. Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/ef1 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)