The Confederation's national "eHealth" strategy

Compared with other countries, Switzerland is behind in the provision of electronic healthcare services (eHealth). Consequently, the Federal Council has drafted a national "eHealth" strategy.

Core elements and objectives through to 2015

• Development of an electronic patient dossier
  Swiss citizens will be able to provide relevant personal information to and use the services of the medical experts of their choice, irrespective of the location and time, via an electronic patient dossier. The electronic networking will enable higher quality, more secure and more cost-effective processes in the healthcare sector.
• Development of a healthcare portal with quality-assured online information
  With high-quality online services, people will be able to play an active part in decision-making concerning their health management and health issues.

eHealth IG

At the beginning of 2008, leading national and international providers from the fields of IT, telecommunications and logistics, Swiss Post among them, founded the eHealth interest group (eHealth IG).

Objectives:

• To better exploit the potential of eHealth in the healthcare sector
• To make healthcare processes more efficient and cheaper through electronic support

Competencies:

• Seat on the advisory panel to the Department for Home Affairs’ eHealth coordination committee and on the council of health directors responsible for implementing the Confederation’s eHealth strategy
• Assisting the Confederation and cantons in drafting legislation. eHealth IG is committed to ensuring that open and international standards are recognized and to promoting the uniform implementation of eHealth technology throughout Switzerland.