18 Core Indicators Defined for Continuous Monitoring of ERNs

The data collection of the 18 ERN core indicators for 2017 and 2018, defined for continuous monitoring of ERNs, has been submitted on March 29th, 2019 for VASCERN. The set of indicators were prepared by the ERN Continuous Monitoring working group (after a year long discussion), approved by the ERN Board in September 2018 and presented at the 4th Conference of the European Reference Networks.

The full document, released by the integrated ERN Continuous Monitoring Working Group of the ERN Coordinators Group and the Board of Member States (to which VASCERN participates), that contains the final version of the 18 indicators can be found here

The first phase of the monitoring of ERNs has started with the launch of an online data collection system developed by the European Commission’s IT unit in January 2019 that is used to collect the information related to the 18 indicators.

The collection of data will be organised in a two-step approach:

o   From January to the end of March 2019: ERNs are asked to collect the data corresponding to years 2017 and 2018.

o   From April 2019 ERNs will start to collect the information corresponding to the first quarter of 2019. Information should be collected at least every 3 months, although it would be possible to upload the information monthly.

The second phase will involve the development and inclusion of ERN specific sets of indicators. It was agreed to ask the ERNs for their initiatives and possible models, as some have already started working on their internal systems of monitoring. Based on the outcome of this initial mapping the WG will then decide on the next steps in order to establish a ERN specific set of indicators (by ERN).

All ERNs will use the monitoring system defined by the ERN Continuous Monitoring working group as an instrument to monitor their activities, to internally manage the performance of the ERNs and to identify areas for improvement. It will also be a tool that can be used to prepare for the evaluation process every 5 years and guide their self-assessment. We will continue to keep you updated on any further developments.

Today the ERN Working Group on Monitoring and Quality Improvement is having a WebEx meeting in order to discuss the outcomes of the first submission phase and the next steps regarding the ERN specific indicators development.