The Portuguese Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Estonia signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the Digital Health Systems area, on April 16th, in Lisbon. It has been established that SPMS – Shared Services of the Ministry of Health, E.P.E. will be the representative and contact point of Portugal.
This memorandum focuses on the digital health development area and presents different kinds of cooperation between the two countries, ensuring that, by the end of 2019, the sharing of cross-border electronic prescriptions will take-off.
It should also be emphasized that Estonia and Portugal are part of D9, a group of the most advanced countries regarding digital government, along with the United Kingdom, Israel, New Zealand, South Korea, Uruguay, Canada and Mexico.
In the framework of this cooperation, it should be highlighted the areas of: knowledge sharing in cybersecurity, operational guidelines for information systems and relevant public sector platforms, promotion of visits and exchanges of professionals and experts, and cooperation in the interoperability of health systems across Europe, including electronic health records.
Pilot joint-projects, concertation on EU eHealth initiatives, dissemination of relevant data sharing and technical expertise in the eHDI framework (eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure), as well as cooperation in mHealth and public services will be other forms of cooperation between Portugal and Estonia.
With the signing of this memorandum, it has been defined that the agenda will have, annually, one or more topics of national interest and, at least, one topic for a joint agenda at European or international level.
Portugal is at the edge of digital workflow, with international recognition for the developed work in recent years. Boost digital strategy in the health sector is a priority of SPMS E.P.E., as this cooperation with Estonia reinforces the achievement of new and further gains for citizens and the health system.
See here the Memorandum of Understanding between the Portuguese Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Estonia in the Digital Systems Area.
See here the portuguese version.
