Focus

SESAM-Vitale French eHealth program

The SESAM-Vitale project is one of the three emblematic French programs most often cited to illustrate the concept of paperless procedures. As was recognized by the report France Numérique 2012 (the French development plan for the digital economy), "France has already embarked on the path of e-government and has had success with the income tax return, paperless medical expense claim forms and the development of ‘télé-TVA’, where companies can record and pay VAT over the Internet".

This success is perceived as progress in terms of sustainable development through reduction in the size of its ‘carbon footprint’, without a really thorough assessment ever having been carried out.

According to a report by the Ministry for Ecology in December 2008 entitled Information and Communication Technology and Sustainable Development, "The impact of paperless processes on carbon footprint can be very significant, as the example of the SESAM-Vitale card illustrates. Prior to its introduction, the French were generating nearly a billion medical expense claim forms annually, forms that not only had to be printed, but also transported and stored. The reduction in carbon footprint is therefore extremely positive."

There are five distinctive aspects to this project; its very controversial start, its duration and national scope, its complexities and its undeniable success.

The origin

Conceived at the beginning of the 1980s as a tool that might enable the French social security department in charge of medical insurance to face up to the growing number of reimbursement claims ...