Med-e-Tel

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Program

The Med-e-Tel 2011 conference program featured presentations of successful business cases, research activities, pilot projects, practical experiences from health and social care providers, and panel discussions, offering both local and international perspectives on telemedicine and eHealth opportunities and experiences.

The Med-e-Tel 2011 Opening Session included welcome addresses and keynote presentations by:

Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, Director, Knowledge Management and Sharing (KMS), World Health Organization
Michael Nerlich, President, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth
Frank Lievens, Director, Med-e-Tel
Peteris Zilgalvis, Head of Unit, ICT for Health, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission
Viktor Kotelnikov, Scientific Affairs Officer, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
David Benton, CEO, International Council of Nurses
Laurent Tréluyer, Ministry of Health, France
Jan Van Emelen, Head, Working Group on Disease Management, Association Internationale de la Mutualité (AIM) and Director of Innovation, Independent Health Insurance Funds (MLOZ), Belgium
S. Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth
Luis Falcon, CEO & Founder, Thymbra and GNU Solidario

Topics and thematical sessions of the overall Med-e-Tel 2011 program included:

A regional seminar and training session, aimed at local (Luxembourg, Belgian and French) care providers and industry representatives, presenting gerontechnologies, technologies for independent living and social participation at the service of older people or people with loss of autonomy.
A Global eHealth Strategy Symposium, hosted by the European Commission and the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth, that provided a policy dialogue on global eHealth as well as a look at evidence and good practice from the field.
The 3rd IWEEE Workshop (International Workshop on eHealth in Emerging Economies) hosted by GNU Solidario. Issues that were addressed, were free software in the health sector, current efforts and role of governments in eHealth, and eHealth in rural areas. Discussions focused on tools that can be provided to doctors and institutions to improve the health and education for their population.
A comprehensive track on Benefits of Open Source Software in Health Care (FLOSS-HC) with contributions from experienced users and developers of open source solutions, and also including a specific focus on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions.
A consultation meeting of the TeleSCoPE project that is working on the development of a Telehealth Services Code of Practice for Europe. By setting service standards, TeleSCoPE will help establish relationships of trust between users, patients and providers and contribute to overall health and well-being. The standards will also provide a quality benchmark for service regulation.
A currently hot debate is the one on Evidence of Telehealth Outcomes: what does telehealth do in terms of clinical and economic outcomes? Many of the Med-e-Tel presentations will provide such evidence, but some were brought together in a specific session and presented outcomes of various (ongoing) trials or maintstream applications.
A focus on Regional Initiatives in Telemedicine and eHealth. The regional level is often where health and social policy is determined. Med-e-Tel 2011 featured a look at some regional initiatives in telemedicine, both from an economic development point of view (industry support, etc.) as well as from a regional care organization point of view (care networks, etc.).
A session looking at Ethical and Legal Issues in eHealth and Telemedicine, presented in cooperation with the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.
A review of the aims and activities of the European project RENEWING HEALTH - Regions of Europe Working Together for Health which supports the implementation of large-scale real-life test beds for the validation and subsequent evaluation of innovative telemedicine services.
Special focus on Virtual Reality, Mental Health, Stress-Related Disorders and Rehabilitation providing background on virtual reality applications and telerehabilitation in health and psychological care, presented in cooperation with the International Association for CyberPsychology, Training and Rehabilitation.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) presented some insights into Satellite Applications to Health and how telehealth and telemedicine applications can use satellite communication technologies to bring medical experts into contact with patients and health practitioners in remote and rural areas or in disaster situations, where terrestrial communications may be non-existent or damaged. Advances in satellite remote sensing, global navigation satellite systems and geographic information systems also allow to develop predictive models that can be used in the surveillance and control of disease outbreaks.
Various sessions on Mobile Health, Telecardiology, Telemonitoring, Distance Consultations, Electronic Health Records, eLearning, and more, showing what works and what doesn't, as well as what exists or what is under development in telemedicine, ehealth and health ICT systems and solutions.
Meetings of the ISfTeH Board of Directors, RENEWING HEALTH project consortium and an ISfTeH Member Breakfast Meeting.

Below is the Med-e-Tel 2011 conference program, listed per day and per conference room.

Click here for a general overview of the Med-e-Tel 2011 schedule of events.

Go to Wednesday 6 April 2011
Go to Thursday 7 April 2011
Go to Friday 8 April 2011

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Conference Room 1

09:30-10:00
Opening Ceremony

Opening addresses by:

Frank Lievens
Director, Med-e-Tel

Michael Nerlich
President, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth

Najeeb Al-Shorbaji
Director, Knowledge Management and Sharing (KMS), World Health Organization

10:45-13:00
Opening Session: Global Telemedicine and eHealth Update
Chair: Frank Lievens, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth

Hosted by the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH)

Digital Agenda for Europe and the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing
Peteris Zilgalvis
Head of Unit, ICT for Health, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission

[full presentation]

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs' Activities in Telehealth
Viktor Kotelnikov
Scientific Affairs Officer, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)