New digital healthcare projects: what was presented at eHealth Summit 2024
Today, Kyiv hosted eHealth Summit 2024, an event that brought together healthcare and IT industry leaders, representatives of government agencies, NGOs and international partners.
Despite the numerous challenges facing the country, the healthcare sector is actively expanding with new digital tools and services. The eHealth Summit 2024 has become a platform for sharing experiences, summarizing interim results, and discussing future steps in the digitalization of Ukrainian healthcare.
Among the key projects announced by Health Minister Viktor Liashko were electronic solutions for tracking the circulation of medical cannabis in Ukraine, electronic prescription of rehabilitation aids, electronic medical reports for adoption processes and for obtaining a driver's license, new modules of the eStock inventory management system for medicines and medical devices, an electronic queue for endoprosthetics, and the launch of new systems and registries.
An important event in digital health that awaits Ukrainians this year is the launch of a personal patient account. At the first stage, all users of the account will be able to review their declaration of choice of a doctor, and, if necessary, resubmit it and find a new specialist. In addition, they will be able to change their personal data (for example, last name after marriage or phone number) if necessary.
The Minister thanked all partners for supporting digital reforms:
“Digitalization is primarily about simplifying procedures for patients. But at the same time, it is a significant step towards greater transparency, accountability and accessibility of medical care in general. Ukraine is confidently demonstrating that even in times of war, it is ready to introduce new technologies to develop its medical system”
The event also presented key achievements in eHealth, including:
- already implemented information systems (electronic healthcare system, electronic systems of epidemiological surveillance and continuous professional development, e-Stock and MedData systems, Unified Web Portal of Vacant Positions in Healthcare Institutions, etc.) that unite millions of Ukrainians, hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers and tens of thousands of healthcare facilities
- digital tools such as electronic referrals and prescriptions, medical certificates for eHealth, birth certificates, COVID certificates, etc;
- 12 healthcare data systems and registries built on the Diia Engine platform.
Other speakers at the summit included Hans Kluge, Director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Mykhailo Radutskyi, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for Digitalization, and international partners. They highlighted the importance of healthcare reforms and digital projects.
The event was supported by the “Action Support Project” implemented by UNDP in Ukraine with funding from Sweden.
“The United Nations Development Program is committed to supporting Ukrainians in promoting digitalization, including in the health sector. We firmly believe that digital innovations are not only a tool for modernization, but also a lifeline in these difficult times. Together with our partners, we will continue to work closely with the Government to develop new digital solutions so that everyone in Ukraine — men, women, and children — have access to the quality health care they deserve.”
eHealth Summit 2024 demonstrates that the digitalization of healthcare in Ukraine is developing dynamically. We continue to work on introducing new technologies that help Ukrainians be healthier.