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The total value of medicines disbursed through the National Health Information System (NHIS) reached some BGN 50 million. On average, medicines worth some BGN 125,000 are prescribed daily. This was announced by the Deputy Director of Software Integrations in Information Services Boris Kostadinov within the Digital Health Forum. The forum was attended by the Minister of e-Government Bozhidar Bozhanov, the Minister of Health Prof. Asena Serbezova Ph.D., the Chairman of the Health Committee of the National Assembly Associate Prof. Dr. Anton Tonev, the Chairman of the Board of Bulgarian Medical Association Dr. Ivan Madjarov and others. A major focus of the forum was the National Health Information System, built by Information Services.
A total of 16 million electronic prescriptions, 380,000 electronic referrals and some 4.4 million e-immunizations have been generated through the system, and in just two months the NHIS reported over 300,000 electronic examinations. A total of an impressive 211 million processed requests have been registered. Electronic health records have been created for nearly 5 million patients.
"The figures beyond any doubt show that the system works flawlessly and is being very actively used," Boris Kostadinov said. According to him, nearly 8,300 doctors, 4,400 pharmacists, about 1,000 laboratory assistants and over 360 dentists are registered with the NHIS.
So far, over 80 different software products have been integrated with the National Health Information System and their number is increasing every month. Since its launching, the system has 9 major releases, over 30 minor releases, and has more than 330 features.
"The ultimate goal of the NHIS is full digitalization of medical information for each user of health services in Bulgaria," Boris Kostadinov said. Thus, every citizen should have his/her medical data in digital format and can provide them to certain medical officials if necessary.
During the forum for the first time in presence of live audience was presented the mobile application "eZdrave", which is being developed by Information Services. It provides access to the medical record and is entirely patient-centered. It will contain general health information, data from examinations, issued prescriptions, therapies, interventions, outpatient sheets, prescription forms, laboratory tests, referrals, etc. The application will contain information about the prescribed medications, instructions for dosage and taking, decisions by Expert Medical Commissions, information about allergies, etc.
The eZdrave app will be free and available for Android and iOS mobile devices. Tests of its features are currently underway and it is expected to be available to patients in the next 3 months.