Belgian government invests €3.25 million in health apps

Federal health minister Maggie De Block is investing €3.25 million in trial projects to test health-related digital apps. The projects are part of the Digital Health Valley initiative in co-operation with Alexander De Croo, minister in charge of the digital agenda.

The goal of Digital Health Valley, the ministers said, is to create the best possible conditions for companies to invest in the development of digital health products. The call for project proposals will be launched at the end of this month. The first trial projects should start by the beginning of 2017.

Health-care providers can create proposals in five care fields: diabetes, mental health, acute stroke, cardiovascular and chronic pain. The apps can focus on self-management, tele-monitoring or the use of wearables, for instance. An example of a health-care app is a heart rate metre that is integrated in a smartphone.

With the trial projects, De Block wants to examine which regulations, legal frameworks and remuneration models are suited to the use of health apps, as these aspects are not yet well developed, she said. As the trial projects progress, the government will draw up possible measures.

“Health apps create a win-win situation for patients and health-care providers,” said De Block in a statement. “Patients can continuously follow up their health themselves or let it be followed up more quickly, while the reduction of red tape will help health-care providers to more easily and quickly exchange information.”

Photo: Ingimage