Toespraak van minister Schippers bij de opening van de e-Health Week in Amsterdam

Toespraak | 08-06-2016

Hello everyone.

It’s great to be here and to see so many of you. A lot is happening so we have much to share and talk about.

Billions of people around the world are leading independent lives thanks to the internet. Time and place are no longer relevant. The internet is always on and its omnipresent.

And it’s not just people who are connected. More and more devices are connected too, creating an Internet of Things. We can adjust the temperature in our houses using our smartphones. Pillows can monitor our sleeping patterns.

But nowhere does the Internet of Things offer greater promise than in healthcare, where its principles are already being applied to improve access to care, increase the quality of care and reduce the cost of care.Greater access, better quality, lower costs. That’s my Holy Trinity.

My goal is to achieve these 3 things for all people in the Netherlands. And e-Health technology is helping me achieve it. It’s empowering people to make healthier lifestyle choices preventing illness and injury. And it’s giving them greater control over when, where en how they receive care when they do need it in a way that fits their personal situation.

A lot is already available. Let’s look at a few examples.

In the category mental health, Headspace provides relief to 6 million people globally. Basically it’s a personal trainer for the mind. The great thing is that Headspace is a private company not pushed by government or healthcare professionals but spread by its own community. It’s consumers themselves pushing innovation.

TemStem is another app in this category. It’s a Dutch service that helps drown out the voices in the minds of schizophrenics by activating the language regions of the brain.

The science behind it is deceptively simple: activate the part of the brain causing problems by commanding it to do something not harmful, like playing a word game.

There are many more apps like these that help those suffering from mental illness and they are a great addition to the mental-healthcare already available. We need them.

Some countries, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, have reported that up to half of long-term sick leave and disability payments are due to mental disorders, mostly depression.

For the next example allow me to shift perspective from patients to healthcare professionals. In the Netherlands surgeons have been using Whatsapp to ask colleagues for advice. Sometimes even during medical procedures.

Apparently there is a demand amongst surgeons for real time advice and they have decided this is the best solution. Great!

But Whatsapp has its limitations. Enter MDLinking.

An app developed by a Dutch startup which allows medical professionals all over the world to talk and share video’s and teaching materials. Already it’s helping doctors in the Netherlands, India, the US, England and Haiti. And it’s peer-to-peer so the level of trust is high.

This is the way forward: sharing information, trying existing technologies before developing new ones and setting standards making technologies compatible.

However, technology is not our Holy Grail. It will not transform our healthcare systems if you and I do nothing. The way we work needs to change.Trying to solve new problems with the same old solutions isn’t going to work. We must all adapt to the new reality. A reality where more than half of all patients would like to have medical information on websites and almost half would like to request prescriptions online. A reality where people are preventing illness and injury by using personalized applications to control their diets and help them exercise effectively.

Governments must seek out cooperation with other nations. Businesses with other businesses. And we must all cross over. Cross border, cross country and across all fields of expertise.

Greater access, better quality, lower costs can be achieved. Our healthcare is changing fast and it’s changing for the better. Time and place are no longer relevant. Care is shifting from waiting rooms to living rooms. No more waiting in line during your lunch hour to get that prescription. No more days off work to visit your GP.

But we must embrace the change! My colleagues and I are clearing out old and obsolete rules. We are trying to make life a little easier for medical professionals, insurers and patients. To the entrepreneurs I say: keep innovating and developing. Your time is now!

To hospital board members I say: look closely at what you can do to improve the way your hospitals have organized care and deal with patients.

Embrace the change, embrace the possibilities!

Thank you.