On September 7, 2016, the European Commission's Directorate Generals on Health and Food Safety and Communications, Networks, Content and Technology jointly published a leaflet that describes European actions in the field of eHealth. Specifically, the leaflet describes the EU's Digital Single Market Strategy and the eHealth Action Plan 2012–2020, discussing tools the EU intends to employ to meet its goals. Such tools include: (i) the eHealth Network of Member State representatives, established by the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive; (ii) the European Reference Network; (iii) dialogue with stakeholders; (iv) financing instruments, such as the third EU Health Program, Horizon 2020, and Connecting Europe Facility; and (v) an EU-wide eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure, which will allow health data (such as ePrescriptions and patient summaries) to be exchanged across national borders. EU goals include creating a digital infrastructure and fostering interoperability, reliability, and increased digitalization of and innovation in health care systems.
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