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The whole world is currently moving towards the digitization of healthcare systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated a trend that has been observed for a long time. There are countries such as Denmark and Estonia that are often set as models for national digital strategies. And how does Poland fare against them?
“The National Health Program is the basic document of public health policy, which sets strategic goals, operational goals and the most important tasks to be implemented to improve health and the related quality of life of the society” – this is how the strategy for 2016-2020 was defined by the Ministry of Health. Similar documents are created in many countries around the world. Today more and more often they include elements related to digitizationwhich has become an integral part of our lives.
Until a few years ago, it was difficult to imagine such a huge popularity of telemedicine or remote diagnostics devices. Solutions such as e-prescription, e-release or e-referral were also songs of the future. Today, they have become a permanent part of the health care system, which has turned out to be extremely important, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Also read: “7 trends in telemedicine for 2021”
Digital health strategies around the world
The introduction of digital solutions in different countries of the world takes place at a different pace. An interesting report in this regard was presented in 2018 by the German foundation Bertelsmann Stiftung. He presents Digital Health Index for 17 selected countries from around the world, mainly taking into account the level of digitization.
Estonia
She was at the top of the list Estonia, which has been seen as a pioneer in the field of digital health for years. Already in 2018, the local system offered solutions such as e-prescriptions, electronic patient cards or the national health portal. However, the key element is ENHIS, the health information network that records the complete medical history of the entire population.
The system is an important element of the whole puzzle e-Ambulance. It is a quick response system that allows you to set up a connection with the control room and the ambulance within 30 seconds. In an emergency, the doctor can use the patient’s identification code and learn about the patient’s information relevant to first aid, such as blood type, allergies or chronic diseases.
Another solution introduced in Estonia concerns drug interactions. “This software is linked to our ePrescription database, so every time a doctor tries to prescribe something that may interact with one of the medications the patient is taking, they get an alert from the system. This helps to avoid unnecessary drug-related side effects. We estimated that about 15-17% of prescriptions change when these warnings are displayed, ”Riina Sikkut, former Estonian Minister of Health and Labor, told Health Europa.
Dania
Another example of a European country that is often considered a model of digital health strategy is Denmark. The local authorities have put special emphasis on creating a digital system that will protect patient data in a special way. No wonder it is Danes have the greatest trust in their healthcare system of any European country. According to Statista, 86 percent. The Danes trusted their health care system to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Denmark also offers its citizens a health portal that anyone can access with a personal identification number obtained at birth. There, patients have access to, among other things, all medical records. There is an additional element here, which is patient education. The medical staff encourages everyone to better understand their health condition through access to medical information and to be able to focus on prevention in the future.
Israel
Israel is also at the forefront of the rankings of countries with the most extensive digital health strategy. Back in 2018, the local government announced that will invest $ 275 million in a health strategy. Interestingly, Israel announced the first projects for the exchange of digital medical data back in 1995.
Currently, the local authorities are focusing on standardizing these data. Solutions such as telemedicine, electronic access to medical records or e-prescriptions have been available in the country for a long time.
Digital health in Poland
In 2018, when the report of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation was published, Poland took the last place in it. Importantly, only 17 countries were included in the report, and Poland and Estonia were the only countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It is also worth noting that the study was carried out when solutions such as e-prescription, e-release or e-referral have not yet appeared in our country.
Recent years have been a time when many digital solutions have appeared in Poland. On the one hand, it is a dynamic development of telemedicine, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and on the other hand, it is easier for patients. “E-prescription, e-referral, e-dismissal, patient’s account are elements of digitization that quickly enter the health care system and thus we are chasing countries that we consider model, such as Estonia” – said the president of the Polish Society in an interview with Newseria Marcin Czech.
The plans go even further. Among other things, it is to be launched this year “my IKP” mobile applicationfrom which you will be able to access the Patient’s Online Account. The system itself is to be expanded with central electronic registration for some benefits or the possibility of arranging an e-visit. This is very important because, according to the data of the Ministry of Health, in 2020 IKP had 5,4 million active accounts. For comparison, at the end of April 2019, there were only 850.
The Ministry of Health is also planning further steps in terms of dissemination Electronic Medical Records. From 2022, its operation is to be obligatory in all institutions.
- You can read more about it in the article “The most important trends in e-health 2021” on medTvoiLokony
Polish companies on foreign markets
In many respects, the Ministry of Health may draw on the achievements developed by Polish companies. In recent years, we have been observing their dynamic development and today, many start-ups plan to expand to the foreign market. “A big challenge for us is to enter the foreign telemedicine market. haloDoctor is currently the most popular telemedicine platform in Poland. In 2020, we carried out an average of around 30. monthly e-visits. This year we want to go abroad with our product and compete with global giants, ”said Rafał Piszczek, CEO of Medfile SA (haloDoctor.pl).
This is not the only example. The latest report by the Startup Foundation, the National Center for Research and Development and Roche shows that as much as 84 percent Polish start-ups from the digital sector are planning to enter foreign markets within the next year. The countries of Western Europe are the main destination here, but also North and South America, the Middle East and Central Europe are mentioned.
As the above-mentioned report shows, the most popular “export goods” of Polish medtechs are remote solutions – not only telemedicine, but also tools for remote diagnostics. Łukasz Krasnopolski, Founder & CEO of Higo, mentioned the development of diagnostic tools without visiting a doctor as one of the main trends for 2021. “Solutions such as Higo, AioCare or Sidly can significantly increase the scope of services provided this way. It will definitely be an important trend in 2021, ”he said.
The Polish Ministry of Health may also use these solutions. It plans, inter alia, to launch a remote monitoring of implantable devices, which is to be used in patients with implanted pacemakers or cardioverter-defibrillator. Subsequently, it is planned to use such solutions as electronic stethoscopes, remote spirometry or eKTG.
Summation
The Global Market Insights report published in April 2018 shows that by 2024, the digital health technology market will exceed $ 379 billion. This trend may accelerate further due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In some way, it forced many people to use digital solutions in medicine.
Currently, in Poland, we can talk about the dynamic development of the digital health area. On the one hand, further solutions are introduced by the Ministry of Health, which promotes the use of telemedicine, e-prescriptions, e-exemptions, e-referrals or the Internet Patient Account. Additionally, the announced introduction of the obligation to use Electronic Medical Records is approaching.
On the other hand, we have been observing for some time development of medtechs introducing solutions applicable not only in Poland, but also abroad. Elements such as telemedicine platforms, e-offices for keeping Electronic Medical Records or devices for remote diagnostics significantly affect the development of the digital health area in Poland.
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