State taps into international eHealth

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - State officials and lawmakers are tapping into electronic health opportunities to stimulate jobs and business growth throughout the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts State House hosted the EU-US eHealth Marketplace this week.  The two-day conference brought more than 400 people from 25 countries around the globe together to foster business and build partnerships between Massachusetts and the world.

“With anything that’s international what we’re just trying to do is break down borders and just take expertise that’s in this country and expertise that’s in other countries and share it more widely,” said University of Massachusetts President Robert Caret.

Through the international trade event, UMass announced a partnership with the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. They’ll team up to move medical device products from concept to marketplace. 

UMass Amherst Computer Science Associate Professor Deepak Ganesan is also attending the event to advance his mobile health research. “You know I’m excited about mobile health in general and what’s interesting here is to hear perspectives from the European Union side about the types of advances in that area,” said Ganesan.

The goal is to have these networking opportunities translate into jobs.  For instance, another Massachusetts group that specializes in transferring health records electronically across the state hopes to attract overseas businesses.

“We think that having companies from overseas where they’ve had more experience with electronic health records, having them locate here will help drive jobs because they will be working on software development here, they’ll be working with our providers and with our patients,” said Mass eHealth Institute Director Laurence Stuntz.

The Patrick administration has been actively involved in trade trips to stimulate business. Governor Deval Patrick himself has travelled on trade missions to China, Israel, the UK and South America.