‘Technology has advanced and this will allow us to build a health service where the patient is at the centre’

The Government has the opportunity to implement the most advanced electronic health record system in the world, if it pursues an appropriate strategy and funds the system’s roll-out, according to the HSE’s former head of digital transformation.

Prof Martin Curley, now a professor of innovation at Maynooth University, has called on the Government to expedite the roll-out of an electronic health system as part of a new campaign led by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association’s (IHCA), dubbed Care Can’t Wait. Currently, many health records in Irish hospitals are paper-based.

In a promotional video released for the campaign, Prof Curley stated that the Republic is about 15 years behind most developed countries when it comes to digital health. Responding to a parliamentary question last month, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly admitted that the country is “is still behind many of its peers in relation to the use of electronic health records”.

However, Prof Curley said that by embracing the “latest innovations” in digital health records, Government has the opportunities to leapfrog the capabilities of other countries.

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The latest technology in digital health allows for a population to hold their personal health records their mobile phone, according to a release from the IHCA. Under the Digitial Decade policy, the European Union wants all EU citizens to be able to access to their electronic health records by 2030.

Mr Donnelly recently estimated that the deployment of an electronic health records system will likely cost in the region of €1.8 billion.

However, according to Prof Curley, the Government could implement a state-of-the-art electronic health record system for a fraction of that price.

“Technology has advanced so much, and this will allow us to build a health service where the patient is at the centre. This would be a leapfrog strategy, potentially avoiding a whole cycle of investment and implementation, to create a world leading digital health system in Ireland and more importantly better health outcomes for all,” Prof Curley said in a statement.

“Technology has advanced so much, and this will allow us to build a health service where the patient is at the centre. This would be a leapfrog strategy, potentially avoiding a whole cycle of investment and implementation, to create a world leading digital health system in Ireland and more importantly better health outcomes for all.”

Rob Landers, president of the IHCA, said: “With so many Irish hospital records still paper-based, there is an urgent need to fund a national electronic health record hospital-wide system without delay.”

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