Patient Empowerment through eHealth Portal in Bosnia and ...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxPatient Empowerment through eHealth Portal in Bosnia and Herzegovinaxx xxx xxx xxx xxxxxacross the Europe. It is a startingpoint for searching for variety of informationaggregations and servicesavailable online. BiH “eHealth” portalis to serve as a platform to hostvarious online interactive services,used by citizens and healthcare professionalson everyday basis. This approachwill make them more mobile,independent of paper work andprovide them with timely and accurateinformation. Healthcare managementwill be enabled with basichealth management tools to contributeto improved accountability andtransparency in their work.Patient empowerment is one centralelement in the EU health strategy.The current EU “Programmeof Community action in the field ofpublic health (2003-2008)” includesactions on the quality of health informationat web sites and the launchingof the Health Portal to serve Europeancitizens (4). The proposal ofthe next “Programme for CommunityAction in the field of Health2007-2013” relays on three main objectives: Improve citizens’ health security; Promote health for prosperityand solidarity, and Generate and DisseminateHealth Knowledge AND HERZEGOVINAHealth care systems in Bosniaand Herzegovina are facing numerouschallenges created by variousexternal and internal factors. Burdenof low efficiency, high unemploymentrate, obsolete technology,with part of existing companies tobe considered as relicts of old system,low health care contributionscollection level, all represent challengesfor the development of sustainablehealthcare system in BosniaxxxxxxxxFigure 1. National eHealth Network of Republic of Srpskaxx xxx xx x xand Herzegovina. Weaknesses relatedto efficiency, equality and qualityof services require in-depth reforms(14,15,16,17,18).Main problems identified in thesector are: Inequality and injustice Inadequate health insurance coverageand control of healthcarecontributions collection. Imbalance between rights andavailable funds Inefficient organization of thesystem and services Low quality of service Health care corruptioneHealth portal goals and objectives: Provide reliable and up-to datehealthcare related information inmother tongue Improve inclusion of citizens inhealthcare delivery chain Better interaction between healthcare providers Healthcarequalitypressure–transparency Create quality informationchannels Lifelong learning / e-learningand CME Due to the systematic nature ofthe eHealth portal development, theportal is going to be introduced in 2phases. Phase 1 is primarily orientedtowards information delivery withlow level of interaction and Phase 2is oriented towards the integration ofVAAs (Value Added Applications)and introduction of interactive services.According the eHealth Strategy,in the future there is a potentialfor the eHealth portal to grow intothe complex online service whichwill be interconnected with variousother existing services.eHealth portal is a healthcare-focusedinformational and educationaltool oriented toward citizens andhealthcare providers of Republic ofSrpska and Federation of Bosnia andHerzegovina and through high userfocus and direct connection to relevanthealthcare bodies has potentialto establish synergetic relationshipwith healthcare providers, healthcareand educational institutions whoseemployees and academic staff shallbe a primary source of high valuecontent for the portal. People needto be educated on the hierarchy ofthe health organizational structure,health insurance, services available,fees, doctors in the area, referral procedures,etc.Services and products offered onthe eHealth portal are differentlyoriented towards different user (target)groups: The widest user group, and servicesand products offered to the same,are primarily in the form of informationprovision with the highergoal of patient empowerment. Patientempowerment is one of the centralelements in the EU health strategy.With National Health Authorities,EU Bodies, European Counciland WHO-Euro backing the patientempowering ideal. The Europeanexperience on eHealth patientempowerment has been in the mainoriented to: providing access to trustedinformation and advice, supportingpatient education for health literacy,implementing the process forthe patient to access and managetheir health data (e-PHR), increasingpatient security and convenience(e-Appointment and e-Prescribing),facilitating on-line health behavioralmodification (self-care) and supportingnew models for chronic care (e-Chronic Care).At the BiH eHealth portal patientswill have access to: Latest news related to health Information on health organizationsand events New and improved products offeredby the sponsors Opportunity to “Ask the Doctor”a specific question Advanced search engine (search152 vol 17 no 3 SEPTEMBER 2009AIM 2009; 17(3): 151-154