Strategic investments: leveraging EU funding for the digital transformation of hospital settings

The digitalisation of Europe’s economy is a cornerstone of the European Commission’s Digital Strategy and a central building block of the European Health Union. Within healthcare, digitalisation is increasingly recognised as a key enabler for Europe’s twin transition and as an important tool to mitigate the effects of climate change.

While the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the uptake of digital health solutions, many everyday hospital practices remain overlooked in high-level investment and modernisation strategies. One such area is medication management pathways.

Digitalising hospitals’ medication management pathways can:

• Increase the visibility and traceability of medicines
• Improve patient safety by reducing medication errors
• Optimise the workload of healthcare professionals
• Enhance staff wellbeing and resilience

To date, however, major healthcare digital investments have focused largely on workforce digital skills and the infrastructure for the European Health Data Space. This raises an important question: how can decision-makers at all levels best utilise funding to modernise hospitals and deliver more efficient, high-quality care?

Event Overview

This event, organised by the EPACT Alliance, will launch and discuss EHMA’s policy paper ‘Funding the Digital Transformation of Hospital Medication Management Pathways‘. The session will:

• Provide a comprehensive overview of existing EU and national funding mechanisms
• Showcase best practices and case examples from Member States and regions
• Explore strategies to support more efficient and impactful investments in digital health
• Highlight how EU institutions and Member States can dedicate more resources to health innovation and sustainable healthcare solutions

Drawing policy into practice, the webinar will underline the importance of investing in hospitals’ medication management pathways to improve medicine availability, strengthen crisis preparedness, and deliver long-term benefits for patients, healthcare professionals, and health systems.

Participants will gain insights into:

• How EU and national funding programmes can be leveraged by hospitals
• The role of digital medication management in safer, more efficient care
• The long-term policy implications for hospitals, national authorities, and healthcare leaders