Digital for Care 2030
Driving Government’s Digital Strategy for Ireland’s Health Service to 2030
Ireland's Health Services have been challenged for many years on how to integrate care better, how to deliver better values and how to ensure better safety and quality for patients. The biggest enabler of that right now, and into the future, is Digital Health.
Sláintecare, as a significant driver of integrated healthcare in Ireland, aims to shift the focus from hospital based care to community based services and this shift is gaining momentum as we seek to enhance the quality of care, improve patient outcomes, and optimise resource use through digital health transformation.
The Department of Health recently launched the 'Digital for Care- A Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024- 2030' which sets out the aims to digitally transform health services and improve access for patients in line with sustained and predictable funding and staffing. In collaboration with the Department, the HSE subsequently published a new and exciting ambition for the role digital will play in the future of health in Ireland through our Digital Health Strategic Implementation Roadmap.
Sharing the collective vision of the Department and the HSE, Digital for Care aims to co-ordinate, streamline and integrate digital technologies to ensure data and information flow to support comprehensive care to patients across all settings.
Under this remit key Sláintecare programmes will be advanced to deliver integrated care aligned fully with the new Health Regions structure – this will allow for enhanced integrated care closer to patients' homes with improved governance and accountability at all levels.
Shared Vision
Better Health Outcomes enabled by Seamless, Safe, Secure, and connected Digital Health Services, which support Health and Wellbeing for both our Patients and Providers.
Six Principles
Our aim is to implement the work outlined collaboratively by both the Department of Health and the HSE to digitally transform our health services into a modern, integrated care system which will:
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Improve delivery of safe patient care.
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Deliver better health outcomes and access to care.
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Make all relevant data available to patients to manage their health more effectively.
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Allow for more capacity in our health services.
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Reduce hospital admissions.
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Reduce the cost of care.
Key Initiatives have been identified that underpin the six principles - empowering patients, the establishment of digital health foundations, building digital health capabilities and the use of data to drive decision making and improvements.
Key initiatives for 2024 include launching the HSE app, remote care monitoring and digital therapies, implementation of shared care record systems and operationalising Virtual Wards in some hospitals.
Benefits of driving Digital for Care Ireland
For Patients:
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Improved patient outcomes by reducing risk to patients, enabling services to target those who need them most and helping to keep people out of hospital when they don’t need to be there.
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Improved patient experience with less time waiting for services, less duplication of care and advanced scheduling of appointments.
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Improved access to convenient healthcare in local communities and in the home through virtual healthcare and monitoring.
For Staff:
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Provide healthcare workers with the right data, in the right place, at the right time to enable them to make the best decisions on patient care.
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Free up clinicians to spend more time focusing on clinical activities and patient care, and less time on administrative tasks through manual, paper-based processes. In doing so, improve staff satisfaction and employee retention.
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Improve communication and transfer of information across care settings, benefiting both clinicians and patients.
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Optimise decision-making using advanced data and analytics.
Join the Journey
Technology alone will not drive Ireland’s digital health – it needs people. The promise of digital health transformation relies heavily on everyone involved to navigate our way together through awareness, education and participation.
Contact
For more information please do not hesitate to contact our team on digitalforcare@hse.ie
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