The meeting was presided over by Mr François-Xavier Selleret, the General Director of the Directorate General of Care Provision (DGOS) of the Ministry of Health. The participants took stock of the progress of the four programme strands and they gave the green light to the start of three major projects.
The first project is about elaborating and testing in the field a scientific method for evaluating the creation of added value by the information systems - this is a cross-cutting project of the Digital Hospital Programme. The steering committee validated the launch of a scientific study aimed at assessing the impact of healthcare software on healthcare quality and security as well as on the improvement of patient care. The DGOS thus intends to give impetus to a process of research on this topic, based on the experience of teaching hospitals and multidisciplinary teams. The research teams will be selected within the context of a call for projects, which will be launched during May 2012 with all healthcare institutions.
Each research team will have to propose an evaluation method that covers at the same time quality of care, working conditions, and economical and operational efficiency. They will implement it during four years among institutions that have a computerisation project for healthcare. Year 2016 will be dedicated to the evaluation and synthesis of the selected methods. It is the ANAP (National Agency for Support to the Performance of Health and Medical Social Facilities) that will be responsible for supporting the project and consolidating its results at the national level.
The second project concerns the integration of the Digital Hospital indicators in the certification of healthcare institutions by the national authority for health, namely the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS). It corresponds to Strand 1 of the Digital Hospital Programme. The level of maturity expected for hospital information systems as part of the Programme is defined in the guide of indicators, which is accessible online.
At the steering committee meeting, the HAS and the DGOS presented a jointly elaborated action plan sought to create greater consistency between the 'information system criteria' for the certification of healthcare institutions and the Digital Hospital Programme. The first step, to be completed by the end of 2012, is expected to enable the use of the Digital Hospital indicators as elements for checking the information system criteria of a V2010 certification (certification based on the organisation and general functioning of the establishment, healthcare practices, and patient information). The second step, planned for 2014, will concern the modified criteria to be included in the new certification manual on information systems, in order to fully take the Digital Hospital indicators into account.
The third and last project has to do with the certification of software solutions namely, Strand 3 of the Digital Hospital Programme. The DGOS entrusted the Delegation for the health information systems strategy (DSSIS) to steer the development and implementation of the software solutions certification process in the frame of the Digital Hospital Programme.
At the steering committee meeting, the DSSIS presented a roadmap for the certification process which is based on the work of a group of institutional experts. A consultation with healthcare institutions and industry representatives is planned to be launched during May 2012, and a public consultation could take place in June 2012.
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