Via their electronic health record (EHR; elektronické zdravotní knížky - EZK, in Czech), citizens can easily obtain online a report of their healthcare, which contains a list of health procedures, tests, visits to doctors and medicines prescribed, plus the charges and payments corresponding to them. If a citizen finds any discrepancy in their report, they can contact their health insurance company to ask for a revision of the apparent irregularities.
Using their EZK, citizens can in addition easily verify that their health insurance is valid and discover if they owe on health insurance. There are also data on the course of the insurance company's business (since 2005).
Jiří Pašek, director of IZIP, said: "Newly in the [EHR] account of the policyholder is a summary of paid regulatory fees and charges for doctors and the pharmacy - any EZK user can quickly determine the amount, how much longer the charges are to be paid, and can also monitor whether the charges paid exceed the legally guaranteed maximum limit, which varies according to patient's age and which could be used subsequently to apply to their health insurance for the repayment of the excess."
The scheme is linked to the policy of increasing the transparency of the Czech healthcare system, which is one of the objectives of the health sector reform of 2011. To this end, it is important to provide citizens with an overview of the offered and available medical care. The General Health Insurance Company (Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna ČR - VZP ČR, in Czech), which is one of the country's not-for-profit health insurance companies, is therefore trying to provide its customers with the maximum amount of relevant information.
Background Information:
The Czech electronic health record (EZK) is a highly secure summary of patient health information in electronic form, accessible 24 hours a day via the Internet. It is a safe environment that links healthcare providers, patients and health insurers. It can be used to transmit medical information between the doctor and patient or between different doctors.
Further information:
- Original news article - IZIP (in Czech)
- EZK - IZIP (in Czech)
- Instructions for obtaining a healthcare report - IZIP (in Czech)
- Related ePractice news article - CZ: One in four citizens has an electronic health record, recognising the value of their health
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Quelle/Source: epractice, 25.08.2011
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