Background

The Digital Health Society, DHS (https://thedigitalhealthsociety.com/), is an open multi-stakeholder network focusing on improving healthcare for all Europeans by better and smarter use of digital technologies.

One of the main challenges in this field is getting the right information at the right place in a way that is safe, secure and everyone understands what it means.

The DHS Task Force 1 (TF1) on Interoperability includes National Ministries of Health and associated agencies, Regional Governments, Standards organisations, Industry representatives, Researchers, Patients’ groups, Health Professionals, CIOs/CCIOs and Health IT managers and experts.

Its central goal is to progress on the convergence of EU Member States and regions in a single market in terms of technical and semantic interoperability, facilitating the cross-border exchange of data and a seamless experience of healthcare services for citizens across Europe.

To this aim, the TF1 focusses on taking practical steps forward by sharing working interoperability solutions from all over the world.

In this frame, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, that were among the first to join and support the Digital Health Society in 2017 and currently lead TF1, is arranging an Online Workshop on interoperability in maternity and baby care on the 17^th of April 2019 (09:30 – 12:00 CET).

Rationale of the workshop

A growing population of tech-savvy millennial parents, the rising popularity of “consumer” health, and an increase in preterm births and fetal deaths are driving the global market for maternal and infant care digital health solutions.

This market is attracting visionary innovators that want to make the most of a women-driven economy, as well as the trend of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into health IT and other connected health systems.

The biggest growth opportunity lies in building a complete ecosystem of maternal and infant care solutions that can work together as a platform. This unified ecosystem will allow integration of baby monitors and digital equipment that aid consumers in a cohesive experience at an important intersection between connected home and connected health.

Regulatory bodies and the investment community are realizing the potential and scope of application of digital health tools in this space, driving greater investments and the development of innovative and targeted digital health solutions.

In this workshop we will dive into the interoperability aspects of maternity and baby and explore how different regions across the EU are using information standards to improve the maternity and baby care treatment.

The attendees are invited to share success stories and promising practices as well as finding common principles and challenges.

The outcomes of this workshop will provide the basis for continued collaboration in the Digital Health Society Network and, in particular, in Task Force 1.

Lastly, a report of the workshop will be released by the Digital Health Society Management Team.

For practical information check the attached invitation.

How to join and contribute to the DHS

The DHS is working to strengthen its stakeholder community effort towards the accomplishment of its Mission and shaping the work of its current Task Forces so to make them truly effective enablers of the digital transformation of health and social care.

Either you want to get in touch for the first time or you had already expressed your interest we kindly ask you to fill in this 2-minutes form. This is essential to grant us permission to send you updates and news about the DHS as well as Task Force specific communication depending on your interest and safeguarding your privacy and data protection rights.

View the invitation and preliminary programme here

For further information send an email to the Digital Health Society Management Team: [email protected]