The Ministry of Health (Ministerstvo zdravotníctva SR), in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance (Ministerstvom financií SR), representatives of healthcare providers, professional organisations in healthcare and health insurance companies have completed the preparatory phase in the implementation of the eHealth programme. Many aspects of the project have undergone significant changes during this phase.
The changes have been designed to remove inefficiencies and accelerate the availability of useful electronic services for citizens, doctors, health insurance and other actors in the sector. The first applications will be deployed throughout Slovakia by the end of 2012. When the programme is fully operational, it is expected to produce an annual saving of up to €100 million, which will be reinvested in healthcare provision.
On the basis of the outcomes of the preparatory phase, an amendment to the contract is currently being prepared to formalise the changes to the project. The decision to institute these changes as an addendum constitutes a signed declaration by the consortium members on the continuation of the project.
Peter Kažík, Director General of Informatics at the Ministry of Health, said: "While the original plan, the so-called eSO1, counted as part of a test-pilot deployment of electronic services with a small number of users, the changes we made in the preparatory phase will be felt in 18 months with the full deployment of the important features of eHealth for patients and health professionals. In addition, the implementation will cost €120 million less than previously estimated."
The first project applications will involve a national health portal where patients can find reliable health information verified by prominent experts in the field while doctors will be able to obtain information about the medicines prescribed by other doctors.
Michaela Gajdošová, Managing Director of the Department of Pharmacy and Medicines Policy at the Ministry of Health, explains: "Many patients suffer from multiple chronic diseases and also use several different drugs simultaneously. Such patients can often not tell their doctor which medicines have been prescribed by another doctor and a specialist can't assess the potential risk of interactions of drugs prescribed and taken by the patient. At the same time, and as a result of lack of information among doctors, there can be duplicate prescriptions. In this case, the patient may receive a double dose of an active ingredient, without it being known by either the doctors or patient, as drugs of different trade names can include the same active ingredients. On the basis of electronic information the treating doctors will have an overview of the patient's diagnosis and an exact description of what medicines the patient is taking. This eliminates the risk of possible drug and food interactions and also of the described risk of double prescription of drugs with the same active ingredients, which will ultimately ensure the quality and safe patient treatment and excellent feedback and doctor awareness."
Further information:
- Original news article - Ministry of Health (in Slovak)
- Related ePractice news article - SK/EU: Preparatory phase of the eHealth Programme launched
- Related ePractice news article - SK: Agreement signed for the development of the national electronic healthcare system
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Quelle/Source: epractice, 01.09.2011
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