France extends public pilot of digital health insurance card

By scanning a digital version of their Carte Vitale health insurance card stored on their smartphone with an NFC reader or presenting a QR code to service providers, residents of eight French departments will soon be able to verify their identity when accessing healthcare services and claiming reimbursement for medical fees, NFCW reports.

Using biometric face recognition technology, users will confirm their identity by taking a video selfie and uploading it to the ApCV app created by the French government.

Rhône and Alpes-Maritimes have started using the pilot service, and Seine-Maritime, Puy-de-Dôme, Loire-Atlantique, Saône-et-Loire, Sarthe and the Lower Rhine are set to follow soon, according to French new outlet 24 Matins

Related News

The University of Paris Cité offers the first course on ‘Metaverse in Health’.

The Faculty of Health at the University of Paris Cité intends to be a pioneer in the exploitation of this emerging technology. In 2023, two professors from the Bichat Hospital will pilot the first training combining health and metaverse, JV TEch reports (in French). “Technological obstacles will be quickly lifted, but perhaps too quickly if we do not learn to use new technologies and do not master the relevant issues, in particular ethical, security, economic and psychological”, explains Professor Patrick Nataf, the training’s co-founder. “Metavers en santé” is a training program that is practical, interactive, and interdisciplinary. To train future students, the diploma will utilize virtual reality and mixed reality augmented by the metaverse. Students are not necessarily only future caregivers. Digital health projects will be developed by engineers, lawyers, start-ups, and IT specialists. The training includes introduction to mixed reality for patients, digital twins, introduction to web 3.0, as well as practical work, laboratory visits, studying digital tools. The 71 hours long module allows to train 120 students on- and off-site.

French “My health space” expands the catalog of digital services

“My health space”, the French national electronic health record, launched at the start of the year, has expanded its catalog of certified digital services, L’usine Digital reports (in French). In total, 12 sites and applications are now offered to the 65.4 million users, who have activated their online personal spaces, as well as those who have not opted out. The catalog includes, for example, the Ameli Account, the Santé.fr directory, Libheros, and My medicines. To appear on the portal, these services must comply with more than 150 interoperability, security and ethical requirements, in accordance with the framework defined by the Digital Health Agency (ANS), and more than be GDPR compliant. In particular, they must have obtained the Health Data Host (HDS) certification. “There are regulatory tools to ensure that all players follow the same rules to guarantee data transparency to users and data control by users”, explained Hela Ghariani, the ministerial delegate for digital health.

Insurers expect healthcare benefit costs to rise dramatically in 2023

A new survey found that insurers anticipate a 10% increase in healthcare benefit costs in 2023, the largest increase in about 15 years. Between July and September, Willis Towers Watson received responses from 257 insurers from 55 countries. The 10% jump is higher than in previous years. Globally, there was an 8.2% increase from 2020 to 2021. Globally, there was an 8.8% increase from 2021 to 2022. 78% of insurers anticipate higher or significantly higher increases in the next three years. The report found that healthcare benefit costs vary by region. Insurers in Latin America expect a 18.9% increase in 2023. There will be an 11.5% increase in the Middle East, a 10.2% increase in Asia Pacific, an 8.6% increase in Europe, and a 6.5% increase in North America. Seventy-five percent of insurers blamed rising medical costs on overuse of care. A medical professional may recommend too many services or overprescribe medications. The underuse of preventive services was credited by 50% of respondents, while 52% blamed people’s poor health habits. Covid-19 is largely responsible for the latter, the report said. According to insurers, cancer, musculoskeletal disorders, and cardiovascular disorders are the most expensive medical conditions. Respondents predicted that mental health would continue to rise, ranking fourth.

All News

Willum Þór: The question remains if our healthcare system is sustainable

On January 1st, Iceland took over the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. This intergovernmental organisation plays an important role in promoting innovations, health data integration, and cooperation between all major stakeholders in the Nordic healthcare. The Icelandic Health Minister elaborates on his vision to future health in the Nordic region, the Nordic strengths, Iceland’s plans for the Presidency with regards to health innovations, and the coming collaboration with Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

CIFS ran an all-day session at the Week of Health and Innovation (WHINN) in Odense

Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies ran an all-day session at the annual Week of Health and Innovation (WHINN) in Odense, Denmark. CIFS’ program attracted over 40 experts from health and data organisations. We presented strategic foresight and futures studies in the health sector, concepts that are used to reimagine the future of the health sector, such as the Humanome and decentralised clinical trials. Also, we had a panel discussion on the newly started Phase V project on decentralised clinical trials, where CIFS is a contributing partner

New HIMSS book out on blockchain in healthcare

The HIMSS Series has a new book on blockchain in healthcare. “Blockchain in Healthcare: Innovations that Empower Patients, Connect Professionals, and Improve Care” is the title of the book. According to the book’s authors, Vikram Dhillon, John Bass, Max Hooper, David Metcalf, and Alex Cahana, blockchain technology may hold the greatest potential in healthcare. Some of the first use cases in medical payments, electronic health records, HIPAA/data privacy, and drug counterfeiting have been explored by early pioneers. There is still much work to be done in order to automate the complexities of today’s healthcare systems and design new systems that are focused on trust, transparency, and aligning incentives. In this book, Metcalf, Bass, Hooper, Cahana, and Dhillon have assembled over 50 contributors, including early adopters, thought leaders, and health innovators. They tell their stories and share their knowledge. The videos and transcripts provided by many authors and contributors humanize the technical details and abstract aspects of blockchain. Using the fundamentals of blockchain, the authors curated a collection of future-oriented examples that build on early successes. After a brief introduction to the fundamentals and the protocols available, as well as early blockchain efforts specific to health and healthcare, the authors discuss the promise of smart contracts and protocols to automate complex, distributed processes and some of the early consortiums that are exploring the possibilities. Throughout the book are examples and use cases, with special attention given to the more advanced and far-reaching examples that can be scaled at an industry-level. In addition, a discussion of integrating blockchain technology into other advanced healthcare trends and IT systems – such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, value-based payments, patient engagement solutions, big data solutions, medical tourism, and clinical trials among many others – is presented. The final section provides a glimpse into the future using blockchain technology and examples of research projects that are still in labs across the globe.