The Catalan Health Department presents Catalonia’s digital health strategy to the SISCAT leadership

The Department of Health held the event “Collective vision for the future of health information systems”, a working and dissemination session on Catalonia’s Digital Health Strategy, addressed to the management and clinical directors of the centres of the Integrated Public Use Health System of Catalonia (SISCAT).

The event, held at Espai Bital on 29 September, is a dissemination activity of the white paper ‘A collective vision for the future of health: the basis for a new care and information systems model’, published in June 2025. The document sets out the principles and objectives that will guide the digitalisation of the Catalan health system between 2026 and 2031.

In her opening remarks, the Minister of Health, Olga Pané, underlined the importance of this initiative as a fundamental pillar for the digital transformation of the Catalan health system. She also emphasised that now is the time to make the most of the wealth of available data and stressed the importance of longitudinal care as a central axis for improving quality of care, together with the Department of Health’s commitment to making it possible.

The Director of the TIC Salut i Social Foundation, Joan Guanyabens, took part in the final panel discussion, alongside the Managing Director of the Institute of Diagnostic Imaging, Francesc García Cuyàs, and the Head of the Business Area of the Information Systems Division of the Catalan Health Service, Òscar Solans. Chaired by the General Coordinator of ICT at the Department of Health, Pol Pérez, they discussed strategies and specific measures to consolidate digital transformation and data-driven decision-making, such as the Critic.CAT project, coordinated by the TIC Salut Social Foundation.

Results and principles of the white paper

The white paper gathers the contributions of more than 3,400 healthcare professionals and citizens, who took part in workshops held across the territory and in a survey on the state of current information systems and their future expectations. The results highlighted the need for change:

• 60% of professionals state that they have to spend too much time documenting information for non-clinical purposes.
• 24% consider that faulty operation of the systems has had or could have serious consequences for people’s health.
• 44% acknowledge that they often use communication channels such as telephone, instant messaging or email to access clinical information.

Based on the analysis of the results, the white paper suggests ten fundamental principles for the information systems of the future: person- and environment-centred care, tools for more humane care, an active role for the population, systematic use of data for decision-making, building trust, universal coverage, better professional experience, proactive and personalised care, high-quality and integrated data, and collaboration as the driving force of innovation.

More information:

• Source: press release sent by the Catalan Department of Health

• White paper: A collective vision for the future of health. The basis for a new care and information systems model.