Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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787. To ask the Minister for Health the progress made to date on the eHealth Strategy for Ireland, specifically with regard to teleconsultations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35350/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Departments eHealth Strategy for Ireland outlined the case for better deployment and use of ICT in the health sector. Since that time, new organisational structures have been put in place within the HSE, including the Chief Information Officer role and the development of the entity eHealth Ireland. Increases in capital spending and resources have been facilitated and the capacity and capability of HSE ICT to successfully undertake large scale ICT projects have been further developed.

Other recent progress that has been made in relation to eHealth development includes:

- The first site for implementing the Maternity and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS), which is the design and implementation of an electronic health record (EHR) for all women and babies in maternity services in Ireland, went live in Cork in December 2016 with Kerry following in March 2017. In both locations the new MN-CMS successfully provides digital, 'paper less' processes and this will be replicated to all maternity units in the coming years;

- A National Electronic Health Record (E.H.R.) Programme is being progressed with the HSE developing a strategic business case which is currently being reviewed in conjunction with the proposal for a new National Children’s Hospital, which will be the first digital hospital in the country;

- eReferrals(National Electronic General GP Referrals) is an initiative that has developed the infrastructure to electronically transmit referrals from GP’s to Acute Hospitals. It has now been rolled out to all six hospital groups;

- The Individual Health Identifier (IHI) is the health index of population and is part of the public service identity management framework. It also covers all private patients. The IHI is primarily a patient safety initiative that will also enhance patient data security and confidentiality. On 30 May 2017, a Commencement Order and Regulations under the Health Identifiers Act 2014 were signed.

Regarding teleconsultation it is generally accepted that teleconsultations mean a virtual medical consultation between health care professionals or between a health care professional and a patient. There is emerging evidence that this can be applied to support an integrated healthcare approach spanning primary care, mental health, care of the elderly and others. It can also be beneficial where care is required in remote locations.

The eHealth strategy envisages providing the necessary technology and infrastructure to support the wider use of telemedicine generally, and teleconsultations particularly, where clinicians and health care providers can support the business need. There are no technological barriers to teleconsultations being made available for widespread use within the context of the health service and some teleconsultation solutions are currently being offered in the private health sector. The wide-spread deployment of teleconsultations in primary and other care settings will need evaluation in terms of patient safety, clinical effectiveness, stakeholder engagement and cost in order to ensure public policy goals are being met.