The pilot will run for three months. During this time period the cards will be only used at the participating practices, hospitals and pharmacies.
Expected benefits from the cards introduction include: easier working conditions for practitioners and health professionals, better quality services for the patients and an improved information flow throughout the health system.
As from 2011, the cards should be made available to all the insured citizens of capital Skopje; they will then be rolled out in other cities throughout the country. The full scale project should be completed by the end of 2011. Moreover, pursuant to the transitional provisions of the Law on health insurance, the old medical records will be gradually replaced with electronic health cards over the next three years.
On 26 May 2010 the first electronic health cards were formally handed to two patients of a private health institution named 'Linkest'.
Health Minister Bujar Osmani believes the introduction of the electronic health cards will greatly increase patient mobility and cut red tape for physicians who will have the opportunity to devote more time to patient treatment. On the occasion of the handing of the first two cards, he said the computerisation of the health system and the electronic health cards will offer a number of efficient solutions in various fields of health, from patient admission through the electronic health records to electronic prescriptions and electronic billing. The Minister further indicated that thanks to the cards, doctors and hospitals will be able to access the results of previously run lab tests which will save them the need to repeat the exams.
Minister Osmani expects the return on investment to be worth approx. €10 million for the first year of implementation of the computerisation scheme.
Further information:
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Quelle/Source: epractice, 02.08.2010
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