Bulgaria issues first electronic medical cards
A pilot project begun in February by the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has resulted in Bulgaria issuing its first electronic medical cards. The pilot project is run by the international eHealth specialist ICW* in partnership with the firms Cisco and Kontrax.
From September 1,000 inhabitants of the towns of Slivnitza and Aldomirovzi (both about 30km from Sofia) will receive personal electronic medical cards (EMCs). These will predominantly be given to chronically ill patients by their general practitioners (GPs) during regular surgery visits. Patients participating in this project were nominated by the GPs.
Each EHC is fitted with a microprocessor chip that stores the patient’s personal data, issue and card number, and a security certificate; data that enables an automatic check of the patient’s insurance status and GP allocation.
Electronic receipts for drugs paid for by the Bulgarian medical insurance are also stored on the chip.
Currently the system is being tested in a field project and participating doctors and chemists are receiving training from specialists at ICW and Kontrax. After these tests and training sessions the pilot project will begin and the first Bulgarian electronic prescriptions will be issued.
In the first six months after the official start of the project the infrastructure was developed along with specific software: All doctors and chemists in Slivnitza and the NHIF were linked to a reliable, secure private network. Cisco supplied the networking equipment, firewalls and IP telephones.
ICW, main contractor and systems integrator for the project have adapted their software solutions, which have already been used in Germany and Austria, to the specific requirements of the Bulgarian healthcare system. The ICW software development kit (SDK) seamlessly links the medical card system with the software used in surgeries and pharmacies. The Kontrax software Hippocrates and the pharmacy systems Pharmacy Expert supplied by Libra Inc. and Pharma Star, supplied by AS Systeme, can now communicate with one another through the ICW eHealth- infrastructure solutions.
The pilot project for the Bulgarian electronic medical card was initiated by the Bulgarian Ministry of Health and the NHIF. ICW was appointed for its implementation in co-operation with Cisco and Kontrax.
* InterComponentWare AG (ICW) is an international eHealth specialist with sites in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the USA and Bulgaria
31.08.2007
