Digitalization of the health system in Moldova has been discussed today, 16 December 2021, in Chisinau, in an event that brought together about 150 participants, key representatives of public and private health institutions in our country, including members of the Government, decision makers in the health sector, academia and development partners.

The roundtable entitled "Strategic Visions on Digitalization in the Health Sector" was organized under the auspices of the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization by the Ministry of Health in partnership with the WHO Office in Moldova and aimed at discussing the urgent need for digitalization of the health sector and creating premises for the development of the Roadmap for a resilient and efficient information system, in line with the highest standards of efficiency and quality.

In his opening speech, the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization, Iurie Turcanu, said: “It is a very important event, where we came together aligned around some fundamental principles that we want to build in the digital health system. Digitalization is not a luxury and not a priority for other countries, which have long since started on this path, but it is a necessity for us, for all of us. This dialogue engages personalities coming from various sectors, public, private, and associative, development partners and everyone can contribute and be an active participant in this process so that, in the end, we have a sound, sustainable, safe and functional health information system”.

Invited to the event, Olga Tumuruc, director of the e-Governance Agency, announced the availability of the e-governance institution to provide all necessary support in order to ensure access to all the basic components that currently constitute the digital governmental infrastructure, based on which the new health information system is to be built. "I appreciate this platform for discussion and this very ambitious but achievable goal of digital transformation of the health system. We are here because the e-Governance Agency (EGA) is one of the few authorities open to change and innovation, and we have extensive experience working with public institutions that have already implemented changes by using information and innovation solutions. EGA is continuously working on the development of digital infrastructure, which will become the solid foundation on which the digitalization of the health system can be built. Any new information system must reuse the systems that have already been developed and have proven effective. It is a decision of the Government that we must respect", said Olga Tumuruc.

The participants talked about their expectations for optimizing and making transparent the activity in the health care sector, came with proposals on the basics of the new strategic vision, the stages, objectives and steps to be taken, and listed the priorities of digital transformation in the healthcare system.

The Minister of Health, Ala Nimerenco, pointed out the bottlenecks that currently exist in the digital infrastructure in the healthcare sector and the challenges faced by both healthcare institutions and patients, and other stakeholders because of the poor information infrastructure and lack of centralized health information systems. "There is no point in looking at what has happened in the past. We need to answer 2 basic questions: What are the expectations of the citizens and what are our expectations, of the representatives of the healthcare sector. It is so simple and we are so late. I hope that today we will be inspired by how we should build this system together and we count on the support of the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization, even if we know that all areas are important, but health is a priority", Ala Nimerenco said.

Topics related to the role of digitalization in promoting health sector reform and ensuring innovative mechanisms for the provision of health services, the experience of other countries in the region that can serve as a benchmark for taking over good practices and adapting them to national context have also been discussed.

Among the most important concepts to be considered as digitalization priorities mentioned by the speakers at the workshop are: electronic patient record, electronic prescription, specialized electronic registers etc., which will be integrated into one e-health governance centre.