Adopted the legal framework of the electronic health record

Citizens of Montenegro, who have health insurance, this year for the first time will have all the information from their health records via an application for mobile phones that will be developed, announced the Ministry of Health.

The general director of the Directorate for Digital Health in that department, Aleksandar Sekulić, explained that this means that citizens will no longer have to save findings, instructions and the like, because they will be available to them at any time, and that with "one click".

He said that the Ministry of Health has taken the first step and that the Rulebook on the detailed content and method of keeping basic medical documentation came into force today.

As Sekulić said, this is the first time that the legal regulations and content of the electronic health record are being defined in Montenegro.

As he stated, after the legal procedures are completed, practical application will follow, which is expected in the coming period.

"The regulations make it possible for citizens to have a unique electronic health record with data from all health institutions, which will be available to them at any time," the announcement says.

Sekulić said that the electronic health record contains data from the primary level of health care about the nature of the disease and the patient's health problem, for which he turned to the chosen doctor, as well as from the secondary and tertiary levels of health care about the performed diagnostics, examinations and measures taken in treatment.

The electronic health record, as he said, also contains other data on health care - findings, statements, opinions, as well as data from medical documentation that is created during the provision of health care at other health care providers or during the provision of health care outside of Montenegro.

According to Sekulić, the single record will also contain data from private clinics, the availability of which would help in diagnosing certain diseases more quickly.

"In order for the patient to receive the necessary treatment in a timely manner, the most important thing is the coordination and exchange of information, in which the electronic health record will significantly contribute and help," the announcement states.

Sekulić said that the biggest shortcoming of the health system so far was electronic disconnection and the inability to exchange data between institutions of all levels of health care, as a result of which patients and citizens of Montenegro were at a loss.

"The extremely slow exchange of information between the selected doctors and medical specialists about the patient's state of health, illnesses, previous treatments, and thus the availability of health data to both patients and doctors, was made more difficult," says the announcement.

This, as stated, put patients and citizens in a disadvantageous position as key users of the entire healthcare system.

"Therefore, in the previous period, a lot of work was done in the Ministry of Health in the field of digitalization of health care, that is, on the closer definition of the content and the way of keeping the electronic health record," Sekulić said.

As he stated, in that short time the shortcomings of insufficient connection and inaccessible data exchange at all levels of health care about the patient's health were corrected.

According to Sekulić, the idea of ​​the electronic health record is that the patient has a certain set of associated key data about previous illnesses, parental illnesses, previous treatments and everything that doctors ask when patients go for an examination.

This, he added, will be useful when the patient finds himself in the emergency room, or with a specialist doctor.

Sekulić said that the electronic health record will contain, among other things, data on patients' chronic diseases, medications they are taking, whether they are allergic to anything, and what their blood groups are.

He said that the advantage of the electronic health record is that the information will be available to every doctor where patients are treated.

According to Sekulić, this contributes to better treatment of the patient, and through the electronic health record and the integration of all systems, faster and better communication will be established between the specialist doctor and the selected doctor in the part of scheduling specialist examinations.

As he stated, one of the priorities of the electronic health record, in addition to the availability of data to citizens and doctors, is the security of citizens' health data.

Sekulić added that, in accordance with the regulations, special attention will be paid to this.

He said that it will be determined which data the patient accesses, which doctor is selected, how the patient gives authorization and how the selected doctor gives this authorization to other doctors in the system.

As Sekulić stated, the entire consistency and functionality of the rulebook is based on several elements, and the first is the visibility of information, that is, the visibility of the medical condition of each patient who approaches a doctor/specialist.

"It is also important, in order to prevent the misuse of this data, that logging, i.e. leaving traces of access or possibly changed data, remains recorded," the announcement says.