Solutions from Ukraine: Ministry of Health aims to incorporate telemedicine into every aspect of medical care

The Ministry of Health is initiating legislative changes aimed at integrating telemedicine into all types of medical care.

The Ministry of Health reports this.

What is the problem?

In 2023, a plan for the advancement of telemedicine was implemented, along with changes to legislation, and efforts are underway to enhance the capabilities of electronic healthcare for the utilization of telemedicine in three specific areas: teleconsultation, telemetry, and teleradiology.

The strategic goals remain to increase the digital competence of healthcare workers and develop technical support for the implementation of telemedicine solutions.

In 2024, telemedicine services are provided for 31 packages of medical services out of 41 packages of the Medical Guarantee Program.

What is the solution?

The Ministry of Health initiates legislative changes to integrate telemedicine into all types of medical care.

"The current legislation that regulates the provision of telemedicine services is outdated, and in some aspects even lags behind and does not meet today's demands. We strive to make medical care more effective and accessible to every Ukrainian, thanks to the introduction of telemedicine. In particular, patients could carry out diagnostics, counseling, and rehabilitation even outside the health care facility. For this, it is important to start changing approaches in regulation," said Maria Karchevych, Deputy Minister of Health for Digital Development.

How does it work?

As noted, the initiated changes are aimed at integrating telemedicine into all types of medical care:

• emergency,
• primary,
• specialized,
• palliative,
• rehabilitation.

In the future, this will improve the availability and quality of medical care in general and, in particular, for:

• chronic patients,
• people who, as a result of hostilities, were forced to change their place of residence,
• residents of frontline areas,
• rural and remote areas.

The Ministry of Health noted that in July last year, the Cabinet of Ministers [Ukraine's government – ed.] approved the strategy for developing telemedicine in Ukraine.

According to it, the Ministry of Health, together with the USAID project "Sustainable Development of National Health Care Systems" (LHSS), analyzed the legal framework that regulates the use of telemedicine in Ukraine.

The analysis covered, in particular, the terminology of telemedicine, its role and application in various types of medical care, the rights and obligations of patients and medical professionals, financing, technical support, accounting, the organization of the provision of telemedicine services, various aspects of data processing, as well as the peculiarities of the use of telemedicine in a remote area, in conditions of epidemics and wartime.

The analysis results were used to prepare changes to the regulatory and legal acts that will contribute to the development of telemedicine in Ukraine and adapt it to modern conditions and challenges.

For reference:

As Rubryka reported, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Ukraine has started work on the development of telemedicine technologies and services.

It was also reported that Sloviansk's primary medical and sanitary care center in the Donetsk region had opened a telemedicine office.

In addition, a boy was born in the Mykolaiv region with the help of telemedicine.