Postu­la­te Bul­li­ard-Mar­bach (17.3550): E‑Health 2030. Plan­ning ahead for digi­tizati­on in the heal­th­ca­re sec­tor through a for­ward-loo­king study

Sub­mit­ted text

The Fede­ral Coun­cil is ins­truc­ted to pre­sent a future-ori­en­ted report on the ongo­ing digi­ta­lizati­on in the heal­th­ca­re sec­tor. Based on the com­pe­ten­ci­es available in Switz­er­land as well as abroad, the report is to iden­ti­fy the chan­ges to be expec­ted in the dai­ly prac­ti­ce of heal­th­ca­re pro­fes­sio­nals by 2030. It also asses­ses the con­se­quen­ces of digi­tizati­on for the Swiss heal­th­ca­re system and the trai­ning of heal­th­ca­re pro­fes­sio­nals. In addi­ti­on, the report iden­ti­fi­es accom­pany­ing mea­su­res for digi­tizati­on, both in the area of data pro­tec­tion and with regard to accep­tance of the­se chan­ges by patients.
REASON

Justi­fi­ca­ti­on

The digi­tizati­on of our eco­no­my and socie­ty will also have a fun­da­men­tal impact on the heal­th­ca­re sec­tor. The fede­ral govern­ment and the can­tons are joi­ning forces to intro­du­ce the elec­tro­nic pati­ent dos­sier – this is an important step. But with the emer­gence of arti­fi­ci­al intel­li­gence as a dia­gno­stic tool, robo­tics and ongo­ing rese­arch acti­vi­ties in the field of per­so­na­li­zed medi­ci­ne, many new que­sti­ons are emer­ging. A for­ward-loo­king report is inten­ded to pro­vi­de a medi­um-term, holi­stic approach and frame­work for discussion.
The report must ans­wer the fol­lo­wing questions:

1. How important will arti­fi­ci­al intel­li­gence be in Swiss hos­pi­tals and in gene­ral prac­ti­tio­ners’ and pedia­tri­ci­ans’ prac­ti­ces by 2030?
2. What are the con­se­quen­ces of the­se chan­ges for the dai­ly work of heal­th­ca­re pro­fes­sio­nals and for the divi­si­on of tasks bet­ween nur­ses and physicians?
3. What are the con­se­quen­ces of the­se tech­no­lo­gi­cal and prac­ti­cal chan­ges for the Swiss heal­th­ca­re system as a who­le and, more spe­ci­fi­cal­ly, for its financing?
4. What con­se­quen­ces can be fore­seen in basic medi­cal trai­ning, espe­ci­al­ly with regard to the acqui­si­ti­on of infor­ma­tics skills?
5. What con­se­quen­ces can be fore­seen in the area of con­ti­nuing medi­cal education?
6. What are the impli­ca­ti­ons of the­se chan­ges for nur­sing education?
7. How to ensu­re that digi­tizati­on is in the patient’s best inte­rest and that they can under­stand it?

OPINION OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL OF 30.08.2017

State­ment of the Fede­ral Council

The Fede­ral Coun­cil shares the postulant’s assess­ment that digi­tizati­on is an important dri­ver for the sus­tainable fur­ther deve­lo­p­ment of heal­th­ca­re in Switz­er­land. In order to bet­ter rea­li­ze the bene­fits expec­ted from digi­tizati­on, such as impro­ving the qua­li­ty of tre­at­ment, incre­a­sing pati­ent safe­ty, and incre­a­sing effi­ci­en­cy, the Fede­ral Coun­cil, as part of the adop­ti­on of the “Digi­tal Switz­er­land” stra­tegy in April 2016, has set the Deve­lo­p­ment of the “eHe­alth Switz­er­land 2.0 Stra­tegy has been com­mis­sio­ned. This is curr­ent­ly being pre­pared by the fede­ral govern­ment tog­e­ther with the can­tons. As part of this work, the imple­men­ta­ti­on of the mea­su­res cal­led for in the postu­la­te will also be examined.