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Cross-border healthcare sees advances, efforts at EU, national levels: report

Xinhua, September 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The report on the state of play of the implementation of the Cross-border Healthcare (CBHC) Directive of the European Union (EU) shows significant legislative advances at EU-level, coupled with genuine efforts by some member states to enable patients to benefit from this legislation.

According to the report, published nearly two years after the Directive was due to be transposed into national law, this Directive has contributed to shaping healthcare reform in many EU countries, said a press release of the European Commission on Friday.

It has improved transparency and patient mobility throughout the EU, and enabled progress on Health Technology Assessment, e-Health cooperation and European Reference Networks, said the report.

However, more still needs to be done to bring to reality the benefits of this Directive, as European citizens' awareness about their right to choose healthcare in another EU country remains low, noted the report.

Less than two in 10 citizens feel they are informed about their rights in this area, and only one in 10 are aware of National Contact Points, offices set up under the Directive to provide information to patients on their rights and on quality and safety issues, said the report.

In line with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's commitment to ensure effective implementation of EU legislation and follow-up on the ground, the Commission would continue an in-depth examination of the measures adopted by member states to implement the Directive.

The Commission would explore all possible means for ensuring the correctness of the Directive's transposition into national law so that citizens in all 28 EU countries are able to benefit, said the press release.

This report would form the basis of a discussion on the implementation of this Directive in the next informal Health Council on Sept. 24-25, said the press release. Endit