EHealth and mHealth Development in Spain: Promise or Reality?

Xosé Mahou,Bran Barral,Andrés Cernadas,Ramón Bouzas-Lorenzo,Ángela Fernández

doi:10.3390/ijerph182413055

Abstract

In the last decades, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has progressively spread to society and public administration. Health is one of the areas in which the use of ICTs has more intensively developed through what is now known as eHealth. That area has recently included mHealth. Spanish health system has stood out as one of the benchmarks of this technological revolution. The development of ICTs applied to health, especially since the outbreak of the pandemic caused by SARS Cov-2, has increased the range of health services delivered through smartphones and the development of subsequent specialized apps. Based on the data of a Survey on Use and Attitudes regarding eHealth in Spain, the aim of this research was to conduct a comparative analysis of the different eHealth and mHealth user profiles. The results show that the user profile of eHealth an mHealth services in Spain is not in a majority. Weaknesses are detected both in the knowledge and use of eHealth services among the general population and in the usability or development of their mobile version. Smartphones can be a democratizing vector, as for now, access to eHealth services is only available to wealthy people, widening inequality.

Highlights

In the late 1970s, healthcare in Spain transitioned from a social insurance system that imitated those of central European countries such as Germany or Belgium to a national health system (NHS) that was universal in nature and funded exclusively through state taxes
As part of the web users (WebU) profile, the Mobile users (MobU) contingent represented 24.4% of all those who interacted with eHealth services
WebU comprised 49.91% of the Spanish population. This indicates that the number of people who access eHealth services is considerable at nearly 50%, that use of eHealth is by no means generalized

Summary

Introduction

In the late 1970s, healthcare in Spain transitioned from a social insurance system that imitated those of central European countries such as Germany or Belgium to a national health system (NHS) that was universal in nature and funded exclusively through state taxes. These were endowed with numerous competences, including management of healthcare services, while the state retained competence over non-domestic healthcare and general coordination of the healthcare system. Health Law), which expressed the political will to make the right to health protection effective, as recognized in Article 43 of the Constitution of 1978. The law established two fundamental principles: (1) that “All Spaniards and foreign citizens with residence established in the national territory have the right to health protection and medical attention”

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