Over the past months, EUREGHA’s Working Groups on Cancer, Digital Transformation, and Cross-Border Healthcare convened to address critical regional health priorities. The Cancer Working Group focused on the ONCODIR DELI tool, an AI-powered platform designed to support policymakers in colorectal cancer prevention. Participants provided feedback on the tool’s usability, predictive analytics, and data integration, emphasizing the need for transparency and training to ensure effective adoption. Additionally, the Basque Country’s VOICE initiative showcased the use of patient-reported outcomes and value-based healthcare approaches to improve cancer treatment, presenting innovative benchmarks for economic and clinical results.
The Digital Transformation Working Group centered discussions on the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and its implementation through TEHDAS II. Key insights highlighted the importance of aligning Member States on data governance, infrastructure, and interoperability for secondary health data use. Sweden’s ASHA project served as a best practice, tackling data fragmentation by promoting open standards and circular health data ecosystems. The meeting underscored the need to overcome barriers to cross-border data sharing, especially in border regions, while advancing innovative digital solutions to support precision medicine and AI integration.
In the Cross-Border Healthcare Working Group, participants explored legal and operational frameworks to enhance healthcare collaboration across borders. The Hungarian-Austrian agreement on ambulance services provided a successful model, while discussions expanded to trilateral cooperation with Slovakia under the ACCESS project. Challenges around implementing Directive 2011/24/EU and improving patient awareness of cross-border rights were also addressed. Updates from the Peace Plus Program showcased innovative cross-border healthcare initiatives between Ireland and Northern Ireland, while research projects in the Dutch-German border region highlighted opportunities to improve care delivery through evidence-based collaboration.
The EUREGHA Working Groups will meet again in early 2025 to set the priorities for the new year, exploring new core themes and collaboration opportunities. If you want to know more about our Working Groups, contact the EUREGHA secretariat!
