As part of our #SmartHealthSystems study we travelled to France. That’s where we found out: Although the introduction of an electronic health record system can involve a long and difficult struggle, it can succeed if the proper institutions are in place to ensure coordinated implementation. Doctors and patients, however, need to be convinced of the usefulness of EHRs.
Israel has considerable innovative power when it comes to implementing digital solutions for healthcare delivery. Israeli Health Maintenance Organizations such as Maccabi are at the forefront of implementing digital health. Prof. Nachman Ash and Dr. Rachelle Kaye tell us in an interview what digital services are available in the Maccabi system for patients and health professionals. They emphasize digital access to health information must be user-friendly and trustworthy. Patients must be able to see for themselves that a trusted professional enters their medical information into electronic health records. For the future, they predict more patient empowerment by using patient reported data and the integration of digital health services with easy to access messaging services.
