EU Pours BGN 10 M in Bulgarian Health Care Info System

Stefan Konstantinov is the latest Bulgarian Health Minister to attempt to implement an electronic information system in the health care sector. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Health Ministry is receiving nearly BGN 10 M for the purchase and the implementation of an information system.

The funds come from the EU operational program "Human Resources" via the Ministry of Social Policy and Labor.

Health Minister, Stefan Konstantinov, and the Minister of Social Policy Totyu Mladenov, are signing Thursday the contract for the provision of non-recourse financial assistance.

A number of Bulgarian cabinets in the last 10 years have attempted to introduce electronic health records and an overall electronic system in the health care sector, without much success for the total cost of BGN 17 M so far.

The last contract for a national health care information system was signed during the term of the previous cabinet of the Three Way Coalition with the consortium "BULL and Partners" for over BGN 4 M.

The project was launched in November, 2006, while the system was officially accepted as functioning by the Health Ministry and the National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK) at the end of September, 2008, the Bulgarian daily Dnevnik writes.

However, the current NZOK team declared the system had unfinished modules and was virtually non-existing because there was no connection between its different segments.

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