The purpose of the strategy is to provide an outline of eHealth and demonstrate how the individual citizen, the Irish healthcare delivery systems - both public and private - and the economy as a whole will benefit from eHealth. It shows how the proper introduction and utilisation of eHealth will ensure;
» The patient is placed at the centre of the healthcare delivery system and becomes an empowered participant in the provision and pursuit of their health and wellbeing.
» The successful delivery of health systems reform and the associate structural, financial and service changes planned.
» The realisation of health service efficiencies including optimum resource utilisation.
» Ireland’s healthcare system can respond to the challenge defined by the EU task force report - Redesigning health in Europe for 2020 - to ensure that in the future all EU citizens have access to a high level of healthcare, anywhere in the Union, and at a reasonable cost to our healthcare systems.
» The potential of eHealth as a driver for economic growth and development can be realised. The strategy identifies a set of objectives to be achieved and proposes a roadmap for their implementation within an outcomes-based delivery model.
It outlines a proposed governance and delivery structure and defines a specific set of actions that address areas such as funding, resources, stakeholder engagement among others, and also looks at an initial set of priority eHealth projects.