Coordination Body for healthcare system digitalization formed – eHealthRecord arrives
Although the Integrated Health Information System (ISIS) is conceived as a unique database that includes all electronic services and patient data, the reality is different. In practice, most of this data remains trapped in local information systems of institutions. Data on examinations are insufficiently exchanged between state institutions, and it is unimaginable that patients' records also note their visits to private health care institutions.
This is a problem for which NALED will offer a solution in the 13th edition of the Grey Book, through a new recommendation for further digitalization of healthcare and the development of eHealthRecord, but also eRefferal, eSickLeave, ePrescription and other modern services.
The Government of Serbia formed a Coordination Body for the digitalization of the healthcare system in mid-January, at the initiative of NALED and with the support of the NALED’s Healthcare Alliance. Its main tasks will be the creation of the National Program for the Development of eHealth, the improvement of the regulatory framework and the introduction of modern technological solutions. This body is chaired by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Minister of Healthcare Zlatibor Loncar, while NALED will provide professional support.
- The Grey Book recommendation envisages that eHealthRecord could also include data from private health care institutions. Thus, the electronic card would follow the patient wherever they are in the health care system, and all doctors a patient visits would have a precise insight into their health history - whether they are allergic to certain drugs, diabetic, their laboratory test results and all other data necessary to provide quality service. According to the Institute of Public Health, in our country, 14.5 million specialist examinations are performed annually along with a large number of examinations by general practitioners, as well as doctors in private practice, so the unification of patient data is more than necessary - says Una Ljubicic, president of the NALED’s Healthcare Alliance and a member of the Coordination Body.
According to her, the focus of the Coordination Body, which, in addition to line institutions and chambers, gathers representatives of business associations, will not only be the services for patients, but also the improvement of the entire healthcare system. One of the goals of establishing a unified information system will be more efficient management of the capacities of healthcare institutions, as well as the required number of healthcare workers, equipment, medicines, available number of beds, etc.
The thirteenth edition of the Grey Book, which will be published in February, contains 100 selected recommendations from NALED members and the general public for removing administrative barriers to doing business in Serbia, and 12 recommendations will be presented to the Serbian Government and relevant institutions for the first time.
