Slovakia’s eHealth has chalked up visible successes as well as hard lessons. The most widely used service remains eRecept, while the social dimension is strengthened by electronic sick leave and assessment physicians’ access to records. On the other hand, hospital connectivity is lagging, and new tools, such as e-agreements, are harder to push into practice.
What works: eRecept, ePN, and access for Sociálna poisťovňa
The discussion agreed that eRecept is the biggest and most stable contribution of eHealth. Outpatient physicians especially appreciate the electronic medication record, which speeds up decision-making and was crucial during the pandemic. Electronic sick leave, in turn, eliminated pointless back-and-forth among the clinic, employer, and insurer and handled crisis surges as well.
A significant shift also occurred at the interface of the health and social systems. Assessment physicians at Sociálna poisťovňa have access to the electronic health record and use the data when checking sick leave or assessing disability. In the first months of the year there were approximately 5 000 accesses, about 2 000 for sick leave and 3 000 for disability benefits, which helps reduce duplication and speed up decision-making.
Where it stalls: hospital systems and duplicate examinations
Frequent objections that “there is no data in eHealth” run up against the fact that most records from outpatient providers are sent automatically via certified software. The problem lies more in uneven connectivity: hospital information systems do not always send or make available all records in a way that general practitioners can see them. The ministry is therefore auditing hospital systems to identify technical and process weaknesses.
Unavailable records create duplicate examinations, unnecessary visits, and higher costs. Experts noted that it is not only about money but also about safety: in acute cases, a complete electronic record can determine the speed and success of treatment. Instead of more penalties for doctors, the emphasis was on explanation, training, and clear rules that encourage disciplined recording.
Hot topics: e-agreements, legislative failures, and motivation
Electronic agreements between the patient and a general practitioner or gynecologist were meant to clarify capitation relationships and reduce paperwork. The law provides for this, but implementation has been delayed and the old procedures are temporarily running in parallel. Doctors are trying out the tool, but they expected more decisive “arbitration” on the part of the state; in the meantime, the ministry with NCZI and vendors is fine-tuning the system.
At the beginning of the year, eRecept was hit by a brief outage caused by an unfortunate legislative amendment on the processing of data by insurers, compounded by weak communication. The lesson is clear: changes need to be analyzed and procedures clearly explained in advance. The prevailing view in the debate was that instead of further sanctions, doctors should be offered positive incentives and better support; at the same time, a deeper data exchange with Sociálna poisťovňa is planned, which can further reduce duplications and save costs.
