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European Union of Private Hospitals

UEHP speaks at the European Parliament on private hospitals and cross-border healthcare

On 1st March, llaria Giannico, Secretary General of UEHP, spoke at the conference “Exploring areas and benefits of cooperation in cross-border healthcare to protect patients’rights”, organised by Active Citizenship Network and the EP Interest Group “European Patients’ Rights & Cross-Border Healthcare”, at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Active Citizenship Network, the European branch of Cittadinanzattiva, is an italian ONLUS working on health, patients’ rights, civic participation, workers’ rights and education.

The conference was a concrete opportunity to debate for civic, patient and healthcare providers associations from different Member States, experts in the field of civil rights, Institutional representatives from the European Parliament and the European Commission, the National Contact Points and several stakeholders at EU level.

The panellists and the participants discussed about the necessity and benefits of fostering cooperation among Institutions, patients and care providers organizations, National Contact Points and the European Reference Networks to improve patients’ awareness and access to care abroad. They also explored ways of doing it practically, thanks to the presentation of case histories, experiences, good practices of efficient cross-border cooperation between some Member States.

UEHP presented its position on the Directive 2011/24/EU on cross border healthcare, as well as some real experiences coming from UEHP hospitals in different countries dealing with European patients.

All the stakeholders agreed on the need of developing a structured and harmonised communication to patients and care providers, of fostering cooperation and integration in healthcare to exploit the full potential of the Directive and help Member States and EU Institutions in the implementation of the Directive at National Level.