National nodes: a tool to enable efficient work of Distributed Infrastructure on Population Health

Abstract

Abstract The European framework of health information (HI) consists - besides the supra-national framework - of national frameworks of health infrastructures. It is therefore essential to strengthening capacities to provide HI and carry out research in countries. Nowadays, one can experience lack of coordination, communication and cooperation between stakeholders in a country, leading to overlap or duplication of research and field-work. InfAct proposes a tool to overcome a majority of these difficulties by encouraging MSs to establish national nodes (NN) as a national focal point for DIPoH. A NN is a building block of DIPoH often coordinated by a national institution or governmental unit that functions as a NN and brings together relevant national stakeholders in an organised way. Researchers from public health institutes and research groups constitute the NN to share expertise and updated knowledge on HI with each other. Currently, there are some active NN in the EU, with differences in scope, scale and initial purpose, due to different organisation of HI systems in countries. Such heterogeneity can also be found in national eHealth strategies. Diverse organizational arrangements exist which has proven to influence collaborative activities. At the same time new needs are arising, such as to better bridge the digital HI between research and health care, so that our health care systems can faster contribute to integrated data driven insights. This also relates to the debate on the Health Data Space, which creation is stated in the mission letter to the new European Commissioner for Health. For example, the eHealth Network has been discussing policy documents targeted at national level policy with regard to the organization of National eHealth Networks. In this pitch presentation, an overview of different practices will be presented with proposals for future work in this area, including the role of NN in DIPoH and proposals for their sustainability. Panelists: H Van Oyen Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Contact: herman.vanoyen@sciensano.be S Montante Brussels Liaison Office, National Institute of Health of Italy (ISS), Brussels, Belgium Contact: sabrina.montante@iss.it E Bacry Health Data Hub, Santś publique France, Paris, France E Bernal-Delgado Health Services and Policy Research Group, Institute for Health Sciences in Aragon, Zaragoza, Spain Contact: ebernal.iacs@aragon.es C Sousa Pinto Advanced Analytics and Intelligence, Shared Services In Ministry Of Health, Lisbon, Portugal Contact: catiasousapinto@gmail.com