Country’s healthcare system in a nutshell

The Hungarian health system operates under a single health insurance fund, covering nearly all residents, though its service range is more limited compared to other EU countries.

Since 2011, reforms have centralised the system, with the national government overseeing strategic direction, financing, regulations, and most specialist and inpatient care. The Ministry of Human Capacities manages the system through the National Healthcare Service Centre (ÁEEK), which coordinates care, plans hospitals, and oversees licensing. In 2012, the central government took control of local hospitals from county and municipal authorities, with ÁEEK managing these state-owned facilities.

The single health insurance fund is managed by the National Institute of Health Insurance Fund Management (NEAK), which is supervised by the Ministry of Human Capacities. Funding comes from payroll contributions and government transfers.

Healthcare delivery is predominantly hospital-based, with the national government directly managing hospitals and providing most inpatient and outpatient services, though some local governments still operate polyclinics.

(World Health Organization, 2023)

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 from the European Union and co-funding by the Hungarian State, with a total investment of 4.87 billion Hungarian forints. Continuous development of the system is ensured by forms close cooperation of the Hungarian State and the European Union such as 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 treatment locations to access the necessary information. Another important objective was to provide modern central services such as subsystems for issuing electronic receipts, electronic referrals, and medical documents, or the eProfile, which facilitates the widespread adoption of modern health care.

The use of EESZT has been mandatory since November 2017 for publicly funded healthcare providers and pharmacies. For non-publicly funded healthcare providers – in the case of private providers who are obligated to provide data to the central implant registry and the prosthesis registry – as well as for the National Ambulance Service, it is mandatory from November 1, 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 outpatient medical or dental activities have a data reporting obligation to EESZT from 06.01.2020.

(EESZT, n.d.-a; EESZT, n.d.-b)

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

Patient history: documents by private professionals, GPs, hospitals, etc.

e-Referrals

e-Profile

Prescriptions

eGYSE

~Codings

Mobile application help page

Covid-related pages

Telemedicine / Measurements:

Devices menu:

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)