The new system, based on IBM technology, enables healthcare providers to check a patient’s health insurance status and enables health claims to be processed online.
The nationwide rollout follows in the footsteps of a pilot a programme that was held at the Dr Franc Derganc General Hospital in the Nova Gorica region of Slovenia.
Since the completion of the pilot in March 2009, the new system has been extended to more than 100 healthcare institutions in the Gorenjska and Primorska regions. IBM says the new system is planned to be fully operational by January 2010, and will be used by approximately 30,000 health professionals and more than two million patients in health institutions across Slovenia.
The system is based on an IBM integrated IT infrastructure solution, which links healthcare providers to both public and private health insurance organisations. It uses an electronic health insurance card that will be carried by every Slovenian citizen and presented at the point of healthcare delivery.
Each eHealth card carries a digital certificate which identifies the patient and enables the healthcare provider to access the patient’s health insurance data online. During home visits, doctors can check the health insurance data remotely by sending the patient’s health insurance number as an SMS message.
"Our decision to implement the eHealth insurance card system across the country will give Slovenia one of the most advanced health insurance systems in the world," says Samo Fakin, general manager of the Slovenian Health Insurance Institute.
Under the previous system, patient’s insurance data was stored on the actual insurance card rather than on a remote server. Patients were required to update their insurance data on the card every few months at self-service terminals. According to IBM, this system will be phased out over the next six months.
Implementation of the new eHealth insurance system and the creation of the integrated IT infrastructure pave the way for additional functionality such as electronic prescriptions and electronic medical records.
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Quelle/Source: Security Document World, 15.05.2009
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