In our #SmartHealthSystems study, we analyzed 17 countries on the state of digitization in health care. Estonia ranks first in our specifically developed Digital Health Index . As our country report shows, e-prescription and electronic patient files have been legally required in Estonia for a decade. Citizens can view their personal health data, find out about illnesses or book medical appointments online via the national health information portal. Since 2012, video consultations and telediagnostics are also permitted and integrated into outpatient care. In a Skype interview, Dr. Madis Tiik, family doctor and digital health expert, explains how Estonia has successfully accomplished digitization. The former CEO of the Estonian eHealth Foundation emphasizes the importance of clear competencies and a dedicated organization for the implementation of digital health processes. The trust of citizens thanks to transparency and a secure national infrastructure are further success factors, he points out.
Which health app is right for me? Which offering is reliable? What distinguishes the various applications on the market from each other? Together with our Weisse Liste colleagues, we’re working on an online platform that will provide answers to these questions. Our goal is to create transparency in the growing field of digital health applications for citizens and to offer providers of good apps the opportunity to raise awareness of their commitment to quality. As part of this project and with the support of the Federal Ministry of Health, we’re developing a core set of quality criteria for health apps that can be applied through a web application. This blog post is an introduction to this project titled “AppQ.”