BULGARIA: Launch of National Health Portal and Electronic Personal Ambulatory Books

The system was officially inaugurated by the Bulgarian Minister of State Administration and Administrative Reform, Nikolay Vassilev, and the Minister of Health, Dr. Evgenii Zhelev, in the presence of ambassadors of EU Member States in Sofia, governmental officials and the managers of the biggest hospitals in Bulgaria.

The two ministers handed in officially the first eLAKs, a modern online version of the well-known paper books that have been used for a long time already.

The national health portal is available at www.zdravenportal.bg for all Bulgarian citizens. It provides up-to-date and accurate health information, registers of all health professionals, hospitals, pharmacies, medical services, health forms and others. It integrates the healthcare sector through Internet and enables the citizens and health professionals to exchange information effectively regardless of their physical location.  The portal has medical news section and links to different portals and health sites.

The health portal is integrated with the first electronic personal ambulatory books (eLAK) whose first users will be 40 000 state employees (representatives of different ministries, executive agencies, district administrations and municipalities); they receive their eLAK for free from their employer - the Bulgarian government. After evaluating the system''''s functionality (benefit/cost analysis, etc), it will be expanded to all health insured persons in Bulgaria.

eLAK is a patient''''s personal health memory, a personal web-based health database which is available at any time and place. It is a modern electronic version of the Bulgarian personal ambulatory book. In contrast to the traditional paper one, the electronic book also enables the storage of document copies such as prescriptions, immunizations, physician letters, X-rays, ECGs, NMRs and others.

eLAK has also an emergency record with information about one''''s blood group, allergies, chronic diseases, medications used and emergency contacts. The personal health record (PHR) is fully controlled by its user. Only the owner has access to the information stored there and he is the one who decides to whom and what information should be accessible: MD''''s, family members, pharmacists, etc.

Through only one click on the send button in his local physician software, the authorized physician can copy information to the PHR even at the time of the examination. This is possible thanks to the integration of the eLAK with the GP''''s practice management software. At this stage the integration solution is implemented within Hippocrates system that covers most of the GPs'''' practices in Bulgaria. Within the next months, the integration is planned with other GP software providers.

The project stared in the beginning of 2008 when the development and the implementation were assigned to the "Information Technology in Healthcare" consortium by the Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform and Ministry of Health following a Europe-wide tender at the end of October 2008.

The project for National Health Portal and the implementation of electronic personal ambulatory books for 40 000 employees of the State Administration is part of the National strategy for implementation of eHealth in Bulgaria approved in 2006 and is in accordance with the eHealth initiative of the European Union for implementation of eHealth portals in the EU Member States.

By ePractice.eu