Publications

LA SALUD: PERSPECTIVA ESTRATÉGICA. Publicado en la revista de economía industrial nº 429 tercer trimestre 2023

Percibir la salud de la población como una misión asocia la intención con el contexto y trata de establecer una condición de actuación que sintetice la necesidad con una posición deseada, de una imagen no existente a posible, de afrontar la sensación generalizada de ineficiencia, insostenibilidad e imposibilidad de atender la demanda, de pretender unas condiciones de equilibrio -con dosis de racionalidad- en el buen funcionamiento de la dinámica real del sistema y crear valor.

Resultados de tres años del plan de gestión clínica de Atención Primaria del Servicio Navarro de Salud

En el Servicio Navarro de Salud no se ha planteado la gestión privada ni la concertación de servicios de atención primaria. La gestión está sujeta al derecho público, que concede prioridad a los principios de legalidad, garantía y transparencia sobre los de eficacia y eficiencia, y supone rigidez en la gestión de personal.
El plan de gestión clínica de atención primaria pretende garantizar unos servicios de calidad contrastada, una asignación de recursos más equitativa y una utilización de los mismos más eficiente, todo ello continuando con un marco jurídico de carácter administrativo. La estrategia del plan es la descentralización de la gestión en los equipos de atención primaria, la evaluación anual y la percepción de incentivos según
los resultados obtenidos.

Application of information and communication technologies for health systems in Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom and Sweden

This document describes and analyzes implementation of eHealth in several European countries, as well as strengths and weaknesses, using this experience in order to support the management and execution of this kind of projects in other scenarios. Five EU member States evidencing different degrees of advancement in their national eHealth projects have been selected for this purpose: Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

Historia clínica electrónica: oportunidades y riesgos

La historia clínica, tal y como la conocemos hoy en día, tiene sus orígenes en los hospitales de mediados del Siglo XIX. La historia de la medicina nos indica que desde entonces se han producido varias innovaciones que han resultado trascendentales en la atención sanitaria.

Proposal of a Learning Health System

This article identifies the main challenges of the National Health Service of Spain and proposes its transformation into a Learning Health System. For this purpose, the main indicators and reports published by the Spanish Ministries of Health and Finance, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and World Health Organization (WHO) were reviewed. The Learning Health System proposal is based on some sections of an unpublished report, written by two of the authors under request of the Ministry of Health of Spain on Big Data for the National Health System. The main challenges identified are the rising old age dependency ratio; health expenditure
pressures and the likely increase of out-of-pocket expenditure; drug expenditures, both retail and consumed in hospitals; waiting lists for surgery; potentially preventable hospital admissions; and the use of electronic health record (EHR) data to fulfil national health information and research objectives. To improve its efficacy, efficiency, and quality, the National Health Service of Spain should be transformed into a Learning Health System. Information and communication technologies (IT) enablers are a fundamental tool to address the complexity and vastness of health data as well as the urgency that clinical and management decisions require. Big Data solutions are a perfect match for that problem in health systems.

Lessons Learned from Implementation of Information and Communication Technologies in Spain’s Healthcare Services

Spain’s health services have undertaken a number of important projects aimed at the creation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) through the incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into patient care practices. The objective of this endeavor is to improve care quality and efficiency and increase responsiveness to the population’s needs and demands. Between 2006-2009 over 300 million Euro were invested in projects of this type.

La explotación de datos de salud: Retos, oportunidades y límites

Los sistemas de salud de los países occidentales deben hacer frente a la confluencia de varias circunstancias que amenazan seriamente su sostenibilidad, y que por lo tanto les exigen asumir una profunda transformación. Estas circunstancias son las siguientes: El envejecimiento de la población, que conlleva un aumento de enfermedades crónicas y degenerativas. La crisis económica, que supone la reducción del presupuesto público que se destina a financiar la actividad de los sistemas nacionales de salud. El aumento de los costes de las nuevas tecnologías médicas, entre las que se incluyen los medicamentos. Las crecientes demandas de los ciudadanos, que exigen la mejora de la calidad de los servicios.

Big Data and Public Health Systems: Issues and Opportunities

Over the last years, the need for changing the current model of European public health systems has been repeatedly addressed, in order to ensure their sustainability. Following this line, IT has always been referred to as one of the key instruments for enhancing the information management processes of healthcare organizations, thus contributing to the improvement and evolution of health systems. On the IT field, Big Data solutions are expected to play a main role, since they are designed for handling huge amounts of information in a fast and efficient way, allowing users to make important decisions quickly. This article reviews the main features of the European public health system model and the corresponding healthcare and management-related information systems, the challenges that these health systems are currently facing, and the possible contributions of Big Data solutions to this field. To that end, the authors share their professional experience on the Spanish public health system, and review the existing literature related to this topic.

A Model of Information System for Healthcare: Global Vision and Integrated Data Flows

The information system is an essential instrument for the performance of a health system, since it makes it possible to record, process and consult huge amounts of data, guaranteeing their availability for several uses which go from healthcare provision to system management, stewardship and financing. Hence the healthcare information system is composed of elements of several kinds, like clinical, clinical-administrative and management applications, among others. The existing literature on health information management studies these different applications, but does not offer a global vision of the healthcare information system as a whole entity. This chapter adopts this global point of view and describes the structure and data flows within the information system, showing through several examples how the data generated during a medical consultation can be used for the patient’s healthcare, the management of the used resources, the invoicing of the delivered service, and in the long term for results assessment, strategic planning, clinical research or education. As a consequence, the making of a healthcare information system requires a clear definition of data recording and analysis processes, and of the information Exchange flows among the different applications. These chapter examines the fundamental requirements that arise: the use of master databases for the unambiguous identification of patients, professionals, facilities and resources; the adoption of organizational, semantic and technological standards; the implementation of mechanisms for information security management; the ability of adapting to changes in the needs of the health system; the availability of a basic technological infrastructure; and the existence of a specific legal framework.

The European data protection legislation and its consequences for public health monitoring: a plea for action

The Network of Competent Authorities (NCA) is one of the implementing structures of the Health Information and Knowledge Strand of the EU Public Health Programme 2003– 08.1 The NCA became aware of problems in the field of European public health monitoring related to data protection legislation, and established in 2005, on a voluntary basis, a Work Group on Data Protection, consisting of six members of the NCA with a specific interest in the topic, and two staff members from the NCA’s Scientific Assistance Office.2 The Work Group carried out an explorative survey among researchers in the European public health field, experts on health data protection and the national Data Protection Offices. This exercise resulted in a (non-exhaustive) overview of problems encountered in public health monitoring, and of major differences between national data protection Systems regarding possibilities for using person identifiable health data for public health purposes. The major conclusions that can be drawn from this overview is that the legal possibilities for such usage differ to great extents between the Member States, and that this diversity can be traced back to the improper transposition of the EU Directive on Data Protection (Directive 95/46/EC)

Seguridad de la información en entornos sanitarios

A partir de la promulgación de la LORTAD en 1992, en las actividades de la Sociedad Española de Informática de la Salud se incorporan sesiones o ponencias sobre el alcance de la Ley y las necesarias modificaciones que habría que realizar en las aplicaciones informáticas del Sistema Sanitario, así como las medidas organizativas que había que adoptar, contando ya entonces con la colaboración de profesionales de la Agencia Española de Protección de Datos. En el año 2000 la Sociedad Española de Informática de la Salud edita el III INFORME SEIS “La seguridad y confidencialidad de la información clínica”, en el que participan como autores y expertos cerca de 30 profesionales: sanitarios, jurídicos, tecnológicos y gestores. Edición muy bien acogida por nuestro sector y que fue presentada en mayo de 2001 por Don Enrique Múgica, Defensor del Pueblo.

Profesión médica y tecnologías de la información

Las Tecnologías de la Información y de la Comunicación (TIC), que son un poderoso instrumento para la búsqueda, registro y tratamiento de la información, se han incorporado al quehacer diario de la profesión médica, porque permiten mejorar la eficiencia y la calidad de la atención sanitaria. Los planes de formación, tanto de la etapa de grado, como de la etapa de postgrado y de formación continuada, deben tener en cuenta esta situación para facilitar que los profesionales utilicen en beneficio de sus pacientes todo el potencial que les ofrecen estas tecnologías, de la misma manera que utilizan las otras tecnologías sanitarias.