On 13 August 2019, the European Commission opened a call for expression of interest to relaunch the eHealth Stakeholder Group with a view to supporting the “digital transformation of healthcare in the EU”. The eHealth Stakeholder Group was first launched in 2012 and in its first iteration (between 2012 and 2015), contributed to the development of the Digital Agenda for Europe on eHealth and the eHealth Action Plan. In 2016, the Commission relaunched the Stakeholder Group, and between 2016 and 2018, the group assisted with the Digital Single Market Strategy and the eHealth Action Plan 2012-2020.

The Commission is now seeking representatives of European umbrella organisations active in the eHealth sector to relaunch the stakeholder group for a term of three years. Selected stakeholders will be expected to provide advice and expertise contributing to policy development in particular in relation to the following areas:

  • Health Data.
  • Digital health services.
  • Health data protection and privacy issues.
  • Cybersecurity for health and care data.
  • Digital tools for citizen empowerment and person centred care.
  • Artificial intelligence and health.
  • Other cross cutting aspects linked to the digital transformation of health and care, such as financing and investment proposals and enabling technologies.

The group will also engage with, and seek input from representatives and organisations across society including academics, healthcare professionals, patient groups and the tech industry sector.

The call is open until 27 September 2019 and the selections criteria can be viewed on the Commission’s website here.

Photo of Sarah Cowlishaw Sarah Cowlishaw

Advising clients on a broad range of life sciences matters, Sarah Cowlishaw supports innovative pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, diagnostic and technology companies on regulatory, compliance, transactional, and legislative matters.

Sarah is a partner in London and Dublin practicing in the areas of EU…

Advising clients on a broad range of life sciences matters, Sarah Cowlishaw supports innovative pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, diagnostic and technology companies on regulatory, compliance, transactional, and legislative matters.

Sarah is a partner in London and Dublin practicing in the areas of EU, UK and Irish life sciences law. She has particular expertise in medical devices and diagnostics, and on advising on legal issues presented by digital health technologies, helping companies navigate regulatory frameworks while balancing challenges presented by the pace of technological change over legislative developments.

Sarah is a co-chair of Covington’s multidisciplinary Digital Health Initiative, which brings together the firm’s considerable resources across the broad array of legal, regulatory, commercial, and policy issues relating to the development and exploitation of digital health products and services.

Sarah regularly advises on:

  • obligations under the EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostics Medical Devices Regulation, including associated transition issues, and UK-specific considerations caused by Brexit;
  • medical device CE and UKCA marking, quality systems, device vigilance and rules governing clinical investigations and performance evaluations of medical devices and in vitro diagnostics;
  • borderline classification determinations for software medical devices;
  • legal issues presented by digital health technologies including artificial intelligence;
  • general regulatory matters for the pharma and device industry, including borderline determinations, adverse event and other reporting obligations, manufacturing controls, and labeling and promotion;
  • the full range of agreements that span the product life-cycle in the life sciences sector, including collaborations and other strategic agreements, clinical trial agreements, and manufacturing and supply agreements; and
  • regulatory and commercial due diligence for life sciences transactions.

Sarah has been recognized as one of the UK’s Rising Stars by Law.com (2021), which lists 25 up and coming female lawyers in the UK. She was named among the Hot 100 by The Lawyer (2020) and was included in the 50 Movers & Shakers in BioBusiness 2019 for advancing legal thinking for digital health.

Sarah is also Graduate Recruitment Partner for Covington’s London office.