The imminent HSE Digital Health Strategic Implementation Plan will open up a world of opportunities for technology innovators and vendors, according to the HSE chief information officer Fran Thompson.

Pulse+IT can reveal that the implementation plan, which is expected to be published later this month, sets out close to 1000 individual digital health projects within 48 initiatives.

The projects have been aligned to the six principles detailed in the national strategy published last month and include plans to develop solutions around telehealth, medical device integration, integrated referral management, patient journey analytics, a mobile ecosystem for front line workers and an open health API framework.

The six new regional health areas (RHAs) established under Slaintecare will be responsible for delivering these initiatives locally and will also devise regional solutions to meet the needs of the local area.

Speaking at the recent Future Health Summit in Dublin last week, Mr Thompson said the HSE will become a driver of innovation.

“The HSE doesn’t do innovation well,” he admitted. “We’re a big ugly organisation and big ugly organisations do not tend to innovate very well. We need help and support to do that. We will drive innovation working with vendors and other partners in line with the big solutions that we are trying to deliver.

“There are absolutely massive opportunities there. One of the things we are doing is putting eHealth directors in each of the RHAs. Four are in place and there are another two to go. They will be the engines of implementation in the RHAs. There will be national and local solutions and they will drive those.”

But he cautioned that opportunities will only be open to initiatives that align with the principles of the national digital strategy and the upcoming HSE implementation plan. There is a particular focus on patient empowerment.

“It’s very easy for us tech people just to focus on the technology, the box and the wires, the software. It’s actually about ensuring that people actually get cared for correctly, that they have the right information, their clinician has the right information, and they are aided through their care.”

He advised prospective partners to read the implementation plan once it is published and “understand what the HSE is trying to do”.

Integration and interconnectivity will be essential, as the goal is to ultimately roll out the long-awaited electronic health records system.

“All healthcare isn’t going to happen within one region,” he said. “It will cross regions. That integration and moving of data is really key. In countries that have been successful [in rolling out digital health], that’s what they have overcome.”

And integration within existing systems is crucial.

“There’s no point coming to us saying ‘I have this great solution but it doesn’t integrate with the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS). It has to integrate with NIMIS, otherwise we won’t even look at it,” he said.

“We are now on a journey. Journeys have to start somewhere. We now have that start. We have a plan. We have a really good team of people to help deliver it, but we can only do this with a lot of partners, a lot of people and a lot of effort.”