| Table of Contents | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hungarians' inventiveness may begin with their language. The language has a complex grammar style that trains cognitive agility. Due to migration then isolation, the language is unrelated to most surrounding European neighbours. The small nation’s speakers have to learn a different language structure to communicate with the rest of the world, further training cognitive agility. John von Neumann (creator of computing architecture), Charles Simonyi (creator of Microsoft Office) and Andrew Grove (co-founder of Intel) are all Hungarian-American technologists.
Country’s healthcare system in a nutshell
The Hungarian health system is primarily organised under a Hungary’s single health insurance fund, providing coverage for almost covers nearly all residents. However, the Its range of services covered by this fund is somewhat more limited compared to other European Union countries.
Since 2011, significant reforms have led to a highly centralised the system, where with the national government now oversees key aspects like overseeing strategic direction, financing, regulations, and the provision of most specialist and inpatient care. The Ministry of Human Capacities manages the system through the National Healthcare Service Centre (ÁEEK), which handles tasks like coordinates care coordination, hospital planningplans hospitals, and licensing, and acts as an umbrella organisation for local health agenciesoversees licensing. In 2012, the central government took control of local hospitals from county and municipal governmentsauthorities, with the ÁEEK managing these state-owned facilities.
The single health insurance fund is managed administered by the National Institute of Health Insurance Fund Management (NEAK), a government entity which is supervised by the Ministry of Human Capacities. Funding is derived from payroll contributions by employers and employees, as well as direct government transfers.
The healthcare Healthcare delivery system is heavily centered around hospitals. The national government's direct management of hospitals that were previously under local authority has made it the primary provider of both is predominantly hospital-based, with the national government directly managing hospitals and providing most inpatient and outpatient services, although a few though some local governments still own multi-specialty outpatient facilities known as polyclinics.https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/countries/hungary operate polyclinics (World Health Organization, 2023).
Health insurance covered the entire population of Hungary, including both members of health insurance schemes and those with free access to state-provided healthcare services (Our World in Data, n.p.).
Public vs private
...
The national PHR
History
The National eHealth Infrastructure and its specialised modules were established within the framework of projects no. TIOP-2.3.2-12/1-2013-0001 and TIOP-2.3.1-13/1-2013-0001 under the social infrastructure operating programme with support under the Social Infrastructure Operating Programme. Funding was from the European Union and co-funding by the Hungarian State, with a total investment of . Total investment amounted to 4.87 billion Hungarian forints (approximately 13.15 million USD). Continuous development of the system is ensured by forms through close cooperation of between the Hungarian State and the European Union such as . For example, project no. 1.9.6 of the Human Resource Development Operating Programme / EFOP of Hungary.
Establishing the EESZT infrastructure was a significant milestone in the history of Hungary’s e-healthcare.
The core principle of the system is to interconnect the earlier fragmented healthcare data systems in all of Hungary, and - taking into account foreign examples - collect all data in a central system, thus the operating services of the Infrastructure would allow the various focused on establishing the Electronic Health Service and Data Integration System (EESZT).
EESZT interconnects previously fragmented healthcare data systems across the country and. It collects all data into a central system. This enables treatment locations to access the necessary information seamlessly. Another important key objective was to provide modern central centralised services, such as subsystems for issuing electronic receiptsprescriptions, electronic referrals, and medical documents, or as well as the eProfile, which facilitates . These promote the widespread adoption of modern health carehealthcare practices.
The use of EESZT usage has been mandatory since November 2017 for publicly funded healthcare providers and pharmacies. For nonNon-publicly funded healthcare providers – in the case of private providers who are obligated to providers (including private practitioners) must provide data to the central implant registry and the prosthesis registry – as well as prosthesis registries, and for the National Ambulance Service, it is mandatory from November 1, since November 2018. Thus, data will only be entered into the Space after joining, and previous patient data is not yet visible in EESZT. Private providers who have a valid operating license and perform Since June 2020, private providers with valid operating licences, performing outpatient medical or dental activities, have a data reporting obligation to EESZT from 06.01.2020.
https://e-egeszsegugy.gov.hu/web/eeszt-information-portal/history-of-eeszt
...
Features
The National eHealth Infrastructure (EESZT) is a central IT system that has set the foundations for ensuring communication between healthcare service providers.
The EESZT system transfers the health data of every patient to a central database which the various health professionals can consult through the corresponding hospital, general practitioner, or pharmacy systems with the appropriate authorisation.
As well as professionals, also patients can access their personal medical data, through the citizen portal.
The platform provides patients with a variety of features. Patients can view:
see ePrescriptions,
eReferrals;
health documents,
EU vaccination certificate,
EU test certificate,
EU health certificate;
outpatient records;
and final reports of their health care;
test results
eProfile: the never or rarely-changing health data uploaded by the GP will be uploaded, which affects health and can even be life-saving in case of emergency care. Such health data is, for example, information about allergies, pregnancy, and implanted implants.
All events when patients used healthcare in outpatient and inpatient specialist care facilities or at family doctor services appear in the ‘Event Catalog’. The data is uploaded by the institutions;
Patients can continuously monitor who has requested access to their data (the GP and treating clinicians have access), and they can set which EESZT event they request an e-mail notification from the system. The data displayed for treating physicians depends on the settings, permissions, and restrictions made during self-determination. More info here
Patients have the ability to book an appointment related to taking a COVID vaccination;
Challenges and areas for improvement
The main weaknesses of the platform are:
ability for patients to input data manually is limited to some specific measurements. Patients can’t add other medical data manually (such as allergies, files etc)
There’s no ability for patients and professionals to communicate with each other via the platform.
there is no device integrations, i.e. patients can contribute to the record data from their device, but there is no possibility to connect the device to the record.
Published outcomes - statistics
...
Screenshots
Login
...
Carer functionality
...
also been required to report data to the EESZT (EESZT, n.d.-a; EESZT, n.d.-b).
Historical patient data has not yet been incorporated, so only data entered after joining the system is visible.
...
Features
Most hospitals in Hungary integrated with EESZT (EESZT official website). This integration automatically uploads nationally data added locally in a hospital's electronic health record (EHR). Authorised health professionals—such as hospital staff, general practitioners, or pharmacists—can access from EESZT through their respective systems. Access is role-based; for example, pharmacists can only view prescription information.
Patients can access their medical data through the EESZT citizen portal and mobile app. Features include seeing:
Prescriptions and dispensed medications, including medical aids.
Referrals for specialist consultations.
Health documents such as outpatient appointment reports and notes, admission, and discharge documents.
COVID-related data, including vaccination certificates, test results, and health certificates. Patients can also book COVID vaccinations.
Test results.
eProfile, which includes critical health information such as allergies, pregnancy status, and implants. This profile contains health data rarely subject to change, uploaded by the GP, and could be life-saving if accessed during emergency care.
The Event Catalogue shows the patient a log of all healthcare service usage, whether in outpatient or inpatient facilities or at family doctor services.
Patients can also monitor who has accessed their data. They can customise settings to receive email notifications about specific EESZT events, controlling what data is displayed to physicians based on their permissions and preferences ( EESZT, n.d.).
Challenges and areas for improvement
Key areas for improvement include:
Limited Patient Input Capabilities: The platform currently allows patients to input limited types of health measurements. They are unable to manually add other essential medical data, such as allergies, detailed medical histories, or additional health documents (e.g. files or reports).
Lack of Direct Communication Between Patients and Professionals: EESZT does not allow direct communication between patients and healthcare professionals. So patients cannot use the platform to consult or follow up with doctors.
No Device Integration: While patients can manually enter data measured by external health devices (e.g., wearable fitness trackers), there is no direct integration between these devices and the EESZT system.
(PKB interviews, 2024)
Published outcomes - statistics
The latest statistics are from the 19th of April 2021 and are available at https://web.archive.org/web/20210419151255/https://e-egeszsegugy.gov.hu/web/eeszt-information-portal/the-role-of-the-eeszt-in-hungarian-healthcare.
“Today, more than 26 thousand health professionals and 13 thousand pharmacy staff uses the system in Hungary. Starting from 2020, more than 22,000 institutions have access to the EESZT infrastructure, including private service providers.
This number breaks down as follows:
There are more than 6000 active general medical practitioners, as well as:
more than 300 outpatient institutions
more than 100 inpatient institutions
more than 3000 pharmacies
more than 8800 private healthcare institutions
The details of more than 600 million receipts have been entered into the EESZT.
An average of 800,000 new electronic prescriptions (ePrescription) are ordered daily.
By June 2020, there was a 90% increase in the monthly prescription of electronic prescriptions.
Annually, 75 million medical documents (e.g. medical records, outpatient data sheets, discharge summaries) and approximately 180 million doctor-patient appointments are recorded online in the EESZT system in Hungary. This amounts to a daily average of 300,000 medical documents recorded in the Infrastructure.”
(EESZT Information portal, 2021)
Screenshots
Login
...
UGYFELKAPU which is the Citizen Portal for Hungarians
Electronic National ID
Citizen Portal+
via Phone
Face-to-face
...
Carer functionality
...
Patient history: documents by private professionals, GPs, hospitals, etc.
...
...
e-Referrals
...
e-Profile
...
Prescriptions
...
eGYSE
...
~CodingsCodings
...
Mobile application help page
...
Folders menu:
...
Bibliography
EESZT.
...
, n.d
...
. The Role of the EESZT in Hungarian Healthcare. Available at: https://e-egeszsegugy.gov.hu/web/eeszt-information-portal/the-role-of-the-eeszt-in-hungarian-healthcare
...
(
...
accessed 13 September 2023).
EESZT.
...
, n.d
...
. Citizen Portal - Main Page. Available at: https://www.eeszt.gov.hu/hu/nyito-oldal
...
(
...
accessed 13 September 2023).
EESZT.
...
, n.d
...
. EESZT Information Portal - The History of EESZT. Available at: https://e-egeszsegugy.gov.hu/web/eeszt-information-portal/history-of-eeszt (
...
accessed 13 September 2023).
World Health Organization, 2023. Hungary: Country Overview. (online) Available at: https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/countries/hungary (accessed 13 September 2023).