Tech Talks Central

We discuss with Dr. Philip Sotiriadis of Telematic Medical Applications and Telematic Global Medical Applications, about his companies' services providing home care and marine telemedicine applications. We talk about how the profound technological advances in health continue to depend on the human factor, whether it’s the medical personnel handling the technology or the patients willing to be treated remotely. Dr. Sotiriades talks to us about his future work partnering with NASA and Dr. Perichles Papadopoulos of Stanford to obtain patents for new wearable devices that read and measure vital signs, and his ongoing projects to use micro satellites to provide networks for distant and remote areas with no infrastructure. He explains his company's goal to provide access to help treat people who would otherwise have absolutely no medical access and also the importance of using technology to remotely provide the knowhow and assistance needed to help prevent the spreading of deadly contagions, like Ebola. Finally, we

Claudio Saccavini, Technical Manager of Consorzio Arsenal.IT, describes the efforts of Veneto region (i.e.NE Italy) to implement an e-prescription project and act as a (very succesful, up to now) pilot for the whole country, scheduled for adoption in January 2016. He cites the three goals of this system (similar to the ones implemented in Greece, Spain and UK - only four countries in EU have a running e-prescription system) which are to ensure that the right drug is being prescribed; to reduce the waste of drugs; and -of course- to save money. He also invites Greece to join Italy in an initiative to open their systems to the millions of tourists visiting the two countries, every year. Interviewed by Yannis Rizopoulos for Tech Talks Central.

Lorenzo Pengo, Director for Healthcare Industry at Microsoft Central-Eastern Europe HQ presents MS’s idea for a healthier future for all of us; influenced by the power of two elements: mobility and cloud computing, that are already creating new and quite interesting scenarios, altering how the eHealth industry works. The three pillars supporting the new era are personalized computing; collaborative environment; and services in the cloud; supported by big data centers at a much lower cost towards the Health industry... which constantly tries to provide more with less. He concludes that Augmented Reality and 3D applications along with devices like Hololens, may bring radical changes to the health sector in the forthcoming years. Interviewed by Yannis Rizopoulos for Tech Talks Central.

Brian O’Connor, Chair ECHAlliance Catherine Chronaki, Secretary General at HL7 International Foundation George Crooks, Medical Director for NHS24 Alexander Berler, HL7 Chair for Greece A recent Imperial College of London study showed that a number of NHS approved apps, while sending out data to associated services, 33% of them were doing so without encrypting their data. This is a security threat invoking identity theft plus privacy issues. Does the EU need a medical software certification strategy and if so, who should implement & enforce it?

Marc Lange, Secretary General for EHTEL, the European Health Telematics Association talks about why we need interoperability in eHealth, why standards are important and whether we need medical software certification for apps. He also talks about what competitive advantages European eHealth companies have in order to compete in the global market. Interviewed by Vicki Kolovou for Tech Talks Central.

Richard Bergström, Director General, of EFPIA explains why pharmaceuticals need data to analyse people’s habits and drug intake, in order to innovate and develop newer and better drugs. He talks about the effect of the economic crisis on pharmaceuticals and analyses how the global pharma canvas is set. Of course we didn’t lose the chance to ask his opinion on Shkreli / Daraprim and the Golden Ticket concept (priority review voucher), the FDA offers to stimulate rare disease drug research and whether it could be implemented in Europe. Interviewed by Vicki Kolovou for Tech Talks Central.

Dr. Clemens Auer, policy maker and Director General of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, talks about Austrias Health Strategy; the procedures they tackled in order to bring Austria to the forefront of eHealth in Europe, including the electronic health record and e-card. He mentions how they have complied with internationally recognised standards and how they learnt from other countries practices, implementing a comprehensive system. Interviewed by Vicki Kolovou for Tech Talks Central.

Jose Costa Teixeira, an expert in eHealth and EU projects explains what interoperability and standards mean in practical terms for health software and why they’re crucial. He talks about what are the competitive advantages of European eHealth companies; including multilingual environments and diverse health infrastructure systems, that can lead to new innovations. He analyses which apps should be considered medical devices and what kind of medical software certification we need. Interviewed by Vicki Kolovou for Tech Talks Central.

George Dafoulas, internal medicine resident at the University of Athens, talks about how they used data from one of the largest e-prescription databases to develop epidemiology outcomes, and correlations with other diseases, concerning three specific non-biased chronic diseases. With the use of a university grant they analysed the Greek e-prescription data, which includes over 98% of local residents, developing one of the first large epidemiology studies in Europe. He and his team plan to continue developing their algorithm and methodology, well into the future. Interviewed by Vicki Kolovou for Tech Talks Central.

Brian O’Connor, Chair ECHAlliance Dimitra Liveri, Network and Information Security Expert at ENISA, eHealth projects Catherine Chronaki, Secretary General at HL7 International Foundation How does compliance with the European Interoperability Framework(EIF) help a National health system’s sustainability? At what percentage would you say your country’s NIF is aligned w/ the EIF when it comes to eHealth? What are the obstacles? Does your country have a published eHealth Strategy and what are its core objectives? In what percentage is it being implemented?

Brian O’Connor, Chair ECHAlliance Catherine Chronaki, Secretary General at HL7 International Foundation George Crooks, Medical Director for NHS24 European eHealth companies have a huge potential to grow, by approaching an ever growing market inside and outside EU borders. Apart from the obvious innovation potentials in a broad number of health & patient care sectors, markets like that of the US, Latin America and China have come ‘closer’ due to international agreements. What kind of impediments will European eHealth companies have to overcome, in order to reach these markets effectively?

Gerald Cultot, Research Programme Officer at DG Connect responds to our questions on whether the European Interoperability Framework exists for eHealth and what is the level of compliance of Member States; what kind of barriers and impediments will European eHealth companies have to overcome, in order to reach and compete in these markets effectively; and last he mentions what actions are being taken, by the EU, to create a code of conduct for medical software certification.

Brian O’Connor, Chair ECHAlliance Catherine Chronaki, Secretary General at HL7 International Foundation The Digital Single Market strategy has raised questions about its impact on U.S.-EU trade and investment, especially with respect to cross-border data flows, data protection, standards development, and competition. These questions arise as both the United States and the EU strive to negotiate the new Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Considering the EU has limited powers regarding the organisation of member states’ health systems and can only recommend actions; what immediate actions should willing states and/or companies take in order to be competitive?

George Crooks, Medical Director for NHS24 Karima Bourquard, Director of Interoperability at IHE-Europe, France Marcello Melgara Responsible for International eHealth Projects, Italy The Digital Single Market strategy has raised questions about its impact on U.S.-EU trade and investment, especially with respect to cross-border data flows, data protection, standards development, and competition. These questions arise as both the United States and the EU strive to negotiate the new Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Considering the EU has limited powers regarding the organisation of member states’ health systems and can only recommend actions; what immediate actions should willing states and/or companies take in order to be competitive?

Catherine Chronaki, Secretary General at HL7 International Foundation responds to what interoperability means for us as patients; how communication between stakeholders can help in achieving it, and why standards are crucial in connecting health data from across platforms and mediums.

Leveraging Superfoods for Medicinal Purposes, Marina Sagnou

Medical Software Certification?

George Crooks on Scotland’s eHealth Strategy & Interoperability

Including Human Behaviour, Interaction & Communication in Machines, Spyros Raptis

How Secure are Your Devices, Phil Zimmermann