Digital governance in tax-funded European healthcare systems: from the Back office to patient empowerment

Digital healthcare promises to achieve cost-efficiency gains, improve clinical effectiveness, support better public sector governance by enhancing transparency and accountability, and increase confidence in medical diagnoses, especially in the field of oncology. This article aims to discuss the benefits offered by digital technologies in tax-based European healthcare systems against the backdrop of structural bureaucratic rigidities and a slow pace of implementation. Artificial intelligence (AI) will transform the existing delivery of healthcare services, inducing a redesign of public accountability systems and the traditional relationships between professionals and patients. Despite legitimate ethical and accountability concerns, which call for clearer guidance and regulation, digital governance of healthcare is a powerful means of empowering patients and improving their medical treatment in terms of quality and effectiveness. On the path to better health, the use of digital technologies has moved beyond the back office of administrative processes and procedures, and is now being applied to clinical activities and direct patient engagement.