EU Commissioner Urges Bulgaria to Introduce Electronic Healthcare

EU Commissioner on Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli (L), Bulgarian Health Minister Stefan Konstantinov (C) and Hungary's Ambassador in Bulgaria Judith Lang (R) on Thursday. Photo by BGNES

Introduction of electronic healthcare would lead to more effective spending of money in this sector, according to EU Commissioner on Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli.

He is on a two-day visit to Bulgaria. He opened a conference on electronic healthcare in Sofia Thursday.

In his words, another main goal of the European Union is to increase the life length of the average European citizen by two years.

"The new European legislation urges EU member states to cooperate through electronic healthcare," Dalli said.

The EU Commissioner gave an example with Sweden, where the lack of doctors in some regions has led to introduction of a system for telecommunication with doctors from Spain. In his words, the innovation helped reduce the long list of people waiting for consultation.

The introduction of the electronic system in the UK has cut by 20% the common healthcare expenses, Dalli added.

In his words, Denmark has invested EUR 725 M in the electronic system and the results were EUR 1,4 B that were saved from expenses for healthcare.

The EU Commissioner praised Bulgaria for introducing a national blood transfusion system.

The Bulgarian Health Minister Stefan Konstantinov, Bulgarians are ready for the implementation of electronic healthcare.

He stated that an indicator is the fact that 50% of the Bulgarians have taken part in the first ever online census in the country.

The minister also pointed out that the health ministry will seek EU funding for introduction of electronic file, card and prescription, as well as for development of telemedicine.

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