Design of Digital Upskilling Strategy for the Italian health workforce

The Italian health system has started a digital transformation process to achieve homogenous improvement, since Italian Regions, which are responsible for the delivery of health services,  are operating at different paces. Ministry of Health, DTD, ProMIS, Age.na.s, with Deloitte Consulting, guided a project financed and supervised by the European Commission, to create a sustainable model to enhance the digital upskilling of health professionals as well as increase use and the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs).

Context 

The Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan (IRRP) envisaged huge investments and a consistent reform package in order to digitize and innovate the country. Since digital transformation and innovation are inescapable trends, it is crucial to achieve digital fluency and digital mindset for the health workers. Currently no structured system of digital upskilling exists in Italy. This lack of digital skills training programs is particularly relevant for the implementation of the mission M6C2 of IRRP, specifically, Investment 1.3 “Strengthening, evolution and expansion of the EHR 2.0” which allocated 311.4 million euros to enforce the digital upskilling of healthcare professionals at regional level.

Support delivered

Deloitte Consulting S.r.l. S.B. supported the TSI Digital Skills Board, composed by the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support of European Commission, the Ministry of Health of Italy, the Department for the Digital Transition, ProMIS and Age.na.s. in order to define:

• an overall strategic framework, whose goal is to establish lifelong digital upskilling programs for the healthcare workforce;
• EHR 2.0 upskilling and communication operational lines, whose goal is to support planning and delivery of regional upskilling and communication initiatives on EHR 2.0. 

The project commenced in October 2022 and ended in February 2024, with a total duration of 18 months.

Results achieved  

The project provided tools and a model specifically designed to support beneficiary authorities in creating and enhancing digital skills among healthcare professionals in a permanent way. It also helped defining specific digital skills to the adoption and use of the EHR, in order to enable the digital transformation process of the Italian health system based on the interoperability of the EHR 2.0. Because of the discussions fostered through the project and the involvement of relevant stakeholders, digital health became a theme of national interest for the Italian continuous professional development/lifelong learning system, resulting in adoption of the Resolution no. 5/2023 (Delibera 5/2023) by the National Commission for Continuing Education (CNFC).