The gradual digitization of the medical field will allow the creation of a single field of medical data, which has a number of advantages for both patients and medical professionals.

I propose to consider in detail why this is important.

All medical information about a patient in one place

Gradually, a patient’s complete health information i.e. medical records, information about vaccinations, laboratory tests, hospitalizations, etc. will be stored centrally and securely.

Thus, the patient will always have access to their public or private electronic medical records, regardless of the institution where they receive treatment.

If necessary, and of course with the patient’s consent, access to such information will be made available to every doctor the patient consults, both from the public clinic and from a private specialist.

To do this, the system provides a synchronized exchange of information, where the doctor can see the patient’s medical history, previous visits to the doctors of other institutions, the patient’s health indicators, regardless of which medical information system. works.

This will allow specialists to understand the full picture of the patient’s health, medical history, comorbidities, laboratory test results – all this will be stored in the central component of the electronic health system.

A modern digital assistant for the doctor

With the connection to the electronic health system, doctors also get access to a modern high-tech system that integrates the best practices of digital medicine.

Therefore, the coding of medical information in the EHS is based on modern international classifiers: ICPC-2 at the primary level and IKH-10 at the level of specialized medical care. The aggregate of such records creates an electronic medical record that combines the patient’s visits to the doctor, appointments, vaccinations, procedures and other information about the patient’s health.

At the same time, entering data into the system is simple thanks to templates implemented at the level of user interfaces – medical information systems. Most modern international medical terminology dictionaries such as SNOMED are integrated into the system. All this together allows not only to improve the quality of data in the system, but also to prevent possible errors in treatment.

minus the paper

Ukrainian medicine is known for its overabundance of paper certificates. Imagine a recent audit revealed that there are at least 600 paper forms in the Ukrainian healthcare system!

However, some of these documents have been successfully digitized today. Successful examples of process engineering include the introduction of digitization and electronic services, medical opinion on temporary incapacity and e-hospital, birth and eMalyatko, COVID certificates, etc. Paper-freeing continues, and the number of electronic documents will only increase in the future. This will not only reduce the costs of purchasing paper forms, but will also save time for communication between doctor and patient instead of filling out lots of papers and journals.

Reliably protected data

Despite the myths that often spread around various data, digital medical data is definitely more reliable and secure than those stored on paper cards at home or in your clinic’s registry.

And the main thing is that in case of loss or destruction of paper documents, unfortunately, they cannot be restored. Instead, patient health data that doctors enter into the electronic health system is permanently stored in the central (government) component of the system. At the same time, this data cannot be changed or deleted without leaving a trace.

So, if you lost, say, data on the child’s vaccinations, it will be possible to restore them without any problems using the data from the electronic health system.

It is important that access to data in this system is given only to identified and authenticated users. Only the doctor to whom the patient is making a statement has full access to the patient’s data and with the patient’s consent.

At the same time, the patient independently allows other doctors to access their medical data with confirmation via an SMS message. In the future, patients will be able to view and manage access in their own office. Thus, the electronic health system ensures the confidentiality of the patient’s medical data.

In addition, the system provides all necessary security measures, including the presence of an integrated information protection system (CIS) certificate of conformity, regular audits. Experts from leading international audit companies are also involved in security monitoring.

Statistics and management decisions

Digitizing the medical field creates an opportunity to collect massive amounts of depersonalized data. Analysis of such datasets can be used to monitor public health indicators, clinical efficacy of certain drugs, control of diseases to identify epidemics at the national level, etc. will allow.

For example, entering medical records of patients with COVID-19 made it possible to monitor the spread and geography of the pandemic and, as a result, take the necessary management decisions quickly.

With the introduction of electronic prescriptions, data on the appointment of antibacterial drugs will allow experts to assess the impact of clinical decisions on the rationality and controllability of antibiotic use. Currently, the Ministry of Health is working with WHO experts on the analysis of indicators that will allow monitoring of the development of antibiotic resistance.

Maria Karchevych, Deputy Minister of Health for Digital Development

* The author’s perspective may not coincide with the agency’s position.