Digital Infrastructure

Objectives

Integrated care requires data-sharing across diverse care teams. It leads progressively to systems that enable continuous collaboration, and the measurement and management of outcomes. This means building on existing digital care infrastructure in new ways to support integration and augmenting them with new capabilities such as enhanced security and mobility. The task can be made easier if the number of different systems in use, and the formats in which they exchange and store data, can be simplified.

• ‘Digital-first’ policy (i.e. move face-to-face communication to digital services to reduce dependence on staff and promote self-service).
• Availability of essential components (ICT infrastructure) to enable data-sharing.
• Consolidation and standardisation of ICT infrastructure and solutions; fewer technical integration points to manage; interoperability and procurement.
• Data protection and security designed into patient records, registries and online services.
• Enabling new channels for healthcare delivery and new services based on advanced communication and data processing technologies.