The e-Health Directorate is a state administrative body within the Ministry of Health with the capacity of a legal entity that performs expert activities relevant to the development and improvement of the National Integrated Health Information System – Moj Termin, as well as the health policy development, development of concepts based on the results obtained from Moj Termin, analyses of data entered into the National System etc. It was established on June 1, 2015, as a continuation of the pre-existing department in Ministry of Health. It has a staff of 12 employees. It consists of information experts, economists, lawyers, doctors.
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 eHealth Office is committed to its role as an intermediary between relevant international institutions and the MOH in organising educational activities on issues related to the promotion of existing laws and strategies.
With further cooperation with relevant EU institutions a new strategy is in development, based on the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Health (2016-2018) and the Government Decision on Establishing a 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, with the priority – incorporating the Macedonian integrated health information system into the EU electronic cross-border data transmission system.
The organizational structure and responsibilities of the Office are defined in the Law on Health Care. (Organogram).
The competences of the Office are:
• Upgrading of the integrated health information system with new functionalities needed and used by health care providers that are part of the health care network
• Optimisation and maintenance of program modules and functionalities within the national system of electronic health records;
• Development and maintenance of web services for integration and exchange of data with the authorities of the administration, as well as with software solutions that are in use in the health institutions that belong to the network of health institutions;
• Proposing defining the duties, powers and responsibilities of health care professionals and management bodies of health care facilities in terms of the functionalities of the integrated health information system and the lists of scheduled interventions;
• Proposing to the Minister of Health concepts for health policy development based on the analysis obtained from the data entered in the integrated health information system;
• Proposing standards for the shortest and longest duration of specialist-consultative examination in an outpatient speciality;
• Proposing a work schedule for the staff of the healthcare institutions, as well as a work plan by defining the optimal number of outpatient examinations per doctor or medical device, number of outpatient clinics for a particular speciality, and other parameters for the smooth functioning of the integrated health information system in terms of scheduling check-ups and interventions;
• Checking the compliance of standards and protocols in the operation of the healthcare institution regarding the application of the functionalities of the integrated health information system and the electronic list of scheduled examinations and interventions;
• Management and promotion of the integrated health information system;
• Definition and updating of coding tables that exchange data in the central database of the integrated health information system with the medical software used in the healthcare institutions in the Republic of North Macedonia;
• Optimisation of existing systems for electronic health records and their integration into a collaborative system including all relevant institutions;
• Training of health professionals and health care providers in health care 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 facilities within the healthcare network;
• Preparing analyses and reports to be used by the Ministry of Health, the Drug Bureau, the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate, the Institute of Public Health, the Agency for Accreditation of Health Care Institutions, the Health Insurance Fund and other entities in the field of health;
• Managing the communication centre 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.