The lines of the future Catalan Health Plan 2016-2020 have been introduced

The new Health Plan began developing on the 27^th of November 2014 during a work session in Sitges (Barcelona), where 400 participants in different groups worked to present proposals about how the next Health Plan should be. These proposals have been recently published in Notebook 1 of the Health Plan (Proposals for the development of the Catalan Health Plan 2016-2020). From that moment, the Health Department has defined 11 lines of action and 43 projects.

The future Health Plan is an evolution of the current one adding new lines regarding the latest progress made and the new needs, but it has a similar structure.  Three main axes have been defined: a) health, b) policies and c) instruments.

The Health axis (line 1) defines the health and quality of life goals to be reached by 2020.

The Health Policies axis (lines 2 to 6) defines the strategic actions needed to reach the health goals. These policies take into account the citizens, the social and economic sectors, the provision of services, the social and health vision needed to solve some health problems and the implementation of research and innovation.

The Instruments axis (lines 7 to 11) specifies the structural elements, the assets and resources that must serve these policies.

The Fundació TicSalut highlights line 10 regarding Digital Health. We can define this concept as the improvement and transformation of the health system and healthcare organisation through the intensive introduction of emerging technologies indicated at any given moment.

All the lines of action in the Health Plan must consider the implementation of digital health and technological development as an instrument to achieve the established targets.