EU’s “patient mobility” -acquis in light of the new concept of a “European Health Union”

Markus Frischhut, professor of “EU Values & Ethics” & Study Coordinator EU law at Management Center Innsbruck, had the chance of delivering a speech at the International Conference on “European Health Union: Perspectives and Challenges” on the 21st of October 2023. This event was organized by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) Laboratory for the Study of Medical Law and Bioethics in collaboration with the National Commission for Bioethics and Technoethics, the Thessaloniki Bar Association, and the Thessaloniki Medical Association.
This was an important discussion in today’s evolving healthcare landscape. The focus of his speech was on the EU’s ‘patient mobility‘ -acquis in light of the new concept of a “European Health Union”. His speech echoed the themes covered in the context of the FLASH project such as why patient mobility across systems may contribute to improving the quality and efficiency of the system from an EU perspective and how it can contribute to resilience during phases of excess demand or to efficiency by favoring specialization in specific clinical areas in a limited number of centers. Furthermore, mobility may also play a part in reducing health inequality.
Morehover, providing guidance on how better integration of health care services could enhance effectiveness and efficiency of health care provision is one of the many goals of the project FLASH.