ELECTRONIC HEALTH MANAGEMENT

The e-Health Directorate is a state administrative body within the Ministry of Health with the status of a legal entity that performs professional work of importance for the development and improvement of the integrated health information system, as well as the formation of concepts for the development of health policy based on the obtained analyses of the data entered into the national system. It was established on June 1, 2015, as a continuation of the previously existing department in the Ministry of Health. It has a staff of 17 employees. It consists of IT experts, economists, lawyers, a doctor.

Its imperative is the implementation of standards and protocols in accordance with EU legislation and directives as well as other relevant international standards. In other words, the e-Health Directorate is dedicated to its role as an intermediary between relevant international institutions and the Ministry of Health in the organization of educational activities on issues related to the improvement of existing laws and strategies.

Since 2011, the National Program for Non-Communicable Diseases has annually approved an improved “Program for Early Detection of Malignant Diseases in the Republic of Macedonia”, laying the foundations for the Programs for Early Detection of Breast and Cervical Cancer. The Directorate for Electronic Health is involved in these screening programs, as well as in the unification of data from the registry of malignant neoplasms.

The Directorate’s short-term and medium-term priorities are set in its First Strategy for the Development of a National Integrated Health Information System (2006) and are already being implemented.

With further cooperation with the relevant EU institutions, a new strategy is already being developed, which is based on the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Health (2016-2018) and the Government Decision on the Establishment of Strategic Priorities (2016).The new strategy envisages further inclusion of the electronic health system at all levels in the health network as its long-term strategic plan, and with priority – connecting the Macedonian integrated health information system to the system for cross-border data transfer in the EU electronic health network.

The organizational structure and responsibilities of the Administration are defined in the Law on Health Care. (Organization Chart)

The responsibilities of the Administration are:
• Upgrading the integrated health information system with new functionalities that are needed and used by health institutions that are part of the network of health institutions
• Optimization and maintenance of program modules and functionalities that are part of the national system for electronic records in health;
• Development and maintenance of web services for integration and data exchange with state administration bodies, as well as with software solutions that are in use in health institutions that are part of the network of health institutions;
• Proposing to define the job duties, authorizations and obligations of health workers and management bodies of health institutions in relation to the functionalities of the integrated health information system and the lists of scheduled interventions;
• Proposing to the Minister of Health concepts for the development of health policy based on the obtained analyses of the data entered into the integrated health information system;
• Proposing standards for the shortest and longest duration of the specialist-consultative examination by specialty in an outpatient clinic;
• Proposing a work schedule for employees in health institutions, as well as a work plan by defining the optimal number of outpatient examinations per doctor or medical device, the number of outpatient clinics for a particular specialty, as well as other parameters for the smooth functioning of the integrated health information system in terms of the lists of scheduled examinations and interventions;
• Control of compliance with standards and protocols in the operation of the health institution in terms of the application of functionalities from the integrated health information system and the electronic list of scheduled examinations and interventions;
• Management and improvement of the integrated health information system;
• Definition and updating of code tables with which data is exchanged in the central database of the integrated health information system with the medical software used in health institutions in the Republic of Macedonia;
• Optimization of existing electronic health record systems and their integration into a single collaborative system including all competent institutions;
• Training of healthcare professionals and healthcare associates in healthcare institutions on the use of the integrated health information system and all its functionalities.
• Certification and approval for the use and sale of software solutions used in healthcare institutions within the network of healthcare institutions;
• Preparation of analyses and reports to be used by the Ministry of Health, the Medicines Agency, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate, the Institute of Public Health, the Agency for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions, the Health Insurance Fund and other entities in the field of healthcare;
• Management of the communication center for technical support to all users of the integrated health information system, and
• Creation and maintenance of a database of the integrated health information system.