Ireland is at least a decade away from having electronic health records for patients if the country waits for the current health service plan to be implemented, an international conference in Maynooth University has heard.
Director of the Digital Health Ecosystem, Professor Martin Curley, said everyone in Ireland should be provided with an electronic health record on their phone.
The technology is there now to build a world class digital health system, he said.
It would mean that every patient would have one record, he said, whether they go to their pharmacy, an Emergency Department or attend their general practitioner (GP).
Prof Curley said this would allow all the clinicians to see the medical records and give patients the power to better manage their own health.
He added that his criticism of waiting for the current health service plan to be implemented was not said to embarrass the Health Service Executive (HSE) or the Department of Health.
In response, the HSE said that digitisation of the health service, under the Programme for Government, is under way at pace.
It said that once the business case for the National Electronic Health Record is approved, it can be delivered in a period of seven years.
Damien McCallion, HSE Chief Technology Officer, said that digitisation has already saved 750,000 hours over recent years by using automation on previously repetitive, administrative tasks.
He also said that the HSE has electronic health records across the maternity services.
Prof Curley said the core tools exist and are in use, but what is missing is a national-scale rollout and full integration between hospitals, GPs, pharmacies and patients.
The international digital health conference at Maynooth University heard that Ireland lags significantly behind other countries in digital health records.
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Experts said that paper records can be lost, be illegible, or can be hard to locate.
Electronic records can be accessed in any part of the system at any time and be instantly updated.
The HSE said that the rollout of programmes is dependent on a number of critical factors, including dedicated funding and resources.
It said a number of programmes were planned including: a national electronic health record system; a shared care record that provides a digital snapshot for health professionals to view a patient's health details wherever they present and the patient app that will enable patients to view their health details and interact with the health system.
There is also the digitisation of diagnostic services, such as radiology and laboratory services and a national electronic prescribing service that provides a single source for all prescribing and dispensing information.
Dr John Sheehan of Blackrock Health said that with an initial investment of €10 million, Ireland can create a scalable digital health system, mirroring Estonia's successful model.
Among the 10 innovations showcased at the conference were: Smartwatch technology that tells a health service if a patient has fallen; an early sepsis detection system and automated sending of GP encounter notes to a patient's phone, before they leave the doctors' surgery.
Experts at the conference say relying on paper records is outdated and carries risks and also means Ireland is not meeting its obligations under GDPR law.
