The National Strategic Telehealth Plan (PENTS), proposed by SPMS, which integrates the strategy for telehealth development, is the first document in this area for the National Health System in Portugal, and among the first in the world to develop this kind of strategy.
PENTS was developed under the coordinating scope of the Portuguese National Centre of Telehealth (CNTS) with a vision to create a broad strategy that reflects the role of telehealth in the National Health Service (SNS), in harmony with the Health 2020: the European policy framework and strategy for the 21st century from the World Health Organization.
This document intends to define an action plan to favour telehealth, using Information and communication technologies (ICT) in health services and management. Healthcare facilitated by technology can have an improved impact by providing better access, integration of care and citizens training, as well as, prompt the digital transformation in healthcare.
The elaboration of the document benefited from a broad consensus and has incorporated contributions from SNS entities and other national experts and users, integrating health, economy, politics and social dimensions in the developed methodology.
PENTS main objectives are:
- Elaboration of a current vision of the Portuguese Telehealth, by listening to experts and key stakeholders, as well as the analysis of relevant documentation;
- Characterization of valuable proposals with distinctive and innovative characteristics for the sustainable growth of Telehealth in Portugal;
- Definition of the Telehealth strategic axes for the period of 2019/2022 and the elaboration of practical and concrete actions to advance its development;
- Composition of a roadmap to operationalize the proposed plan and its recommended future implementation.
SPMS has a fundamental role in the advancement of strategies through the successful development of telehealth initiatives and the implementation of Information Technology systems and platforms to support the health information ecosystem, for which PENTS is an excellent example.
