Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD
Minister for Health, Ireland
Find out how a new health app and electronic health record (EHR) rollout can transform patient care through digital innovation, virtual wards and AI — making healthcare faster, safer and smarter.
Digital innovation in healthcare is something that excites me. I was delighted that one of my first actions as Minister for Health was to launch the new HSE Health App, an exciting milestone in our journey to digitise patient health records.
Health app enables better monitoring for patients
The app brings our paper-based health service into the digital era so patients can soon manage prescriptions, get test results and book appointments in one place. It is the first step in giving patients digital access to their health information as part of a broader strategy to digitise health records in Ireland.
It helps patients monitor their health information and better navigate the health service. Today, the app allows users to see hospital appointments, keep a list of medicines, store a digital medical card, see vaccine records and get information on conditions, treatments and medicines. In the near future, patients will receive appointment notifications and reminders, making it easier for people to manage their care. Have you downloaded the HSE Health App yet?
By the end of this year, 70% of
babies born in Ireland will have
an electronic health record.
Electronic health records secure data for all
In June, we signed a contract to build the National Shared Care Record, which will bring fragmented data together for safer, coordinated patient-centred care. This is an important milestone in the delivery of a national EHR system, which will be nationally led and regionally delivered across acute and community settings in the new HSE Health Regions.
The national EHR will support every patient’s entire care footprint throughout their lives. By the end of this year, 70% of babies born in Ireland will have an electronic health record.
Virtual wards and AI innovations in Ireland’s healthcare
The HSE’s Virtual Ward Programme is another example of an efficient alternative to bedded care, enabled by technology. It is already running at St Vincent’s University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick, allowing patients to receive acute care, monitoring and treatment at home.
Additionally, my department and the HSE are developing Ireland’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Healthcare, ‘AI for Care,’ to be published later this year. It will deliver better, faster and more efficient healthcare for all with value for taxpayers’ money.
These innovations are exciting, patient-centred and will make a real difference to how we all integrate with the healthcare system.
Download the HSE Health App.
