The objective of this law is to assert the population s right to healthcare by making their medical information and files available everywhere in real time, in an effort to make the healthcare system more efficient overall and simultaneously to ensure the confidentiality and security of each patient s personal and clinical information. This law would apply to all forms of healthcare; both public and private.
Representative Germán Kahlow, president of the 100% Santafesino block, described the project as being …one of the different ways in which the State can use IT tools. We believe that this initiative would be a significant step forward in ensuring the right to Public Healthcare. Using digital tools to link the public/private healthcare center-patient relationship will improve the quality of service provision.
He went on to note that the State has a responsibility to adopt all the measures it can in order to ensure that the right to healthcare is upheld: Prevention and treatment of diseases and the struggle against them, as well as the creation of an environment where everyone is guaranteed medical care and services if they get ill. Having a single, homogenous and universal electronic health record will provide every citizen with a very valuable online information service, given the importance of having up to date information that can be accessed from anywhere in the world at any given time. This service, which the State would provide for every Santafesino, would improve the quality of medical care as it would provide the quick, simple and flexible clinical information needed in patient care.
He continued with the affirmation that it is proven that efficiency, quality and safety in healthcare improve and medical errors are reduced, transcending quality standards, when better patient information is available.
This system would be installed as a governmental website where the electronic health records would be put together along with the necessary privacy and confidentiality tools. Citizens would thus be able to consult their own electronic health record from wherever they are in the world at any time. Furthermore, medical professionals would be able to consult and update the patient s electronic health record with due authorization during consults and emergencies.
Health Record
A health record is the set of documents that make up a chronological record of health episodes and illnesses in a person s lifetime, and the subsequent healthcare treatment they have received as a result. Electronic health records have existed in some parts of the world since the 60s, placing Information and Communication Technologies at the center of healthcare operations. This means that a health record would cease to be an information record generated between a patient and a professional or health center and become part of a universal, integrated clinical information system. Electronic health records are unified and personal multimedia records that save all the information related to the patient and their care. It is accessible, with appropriate limitations, in every situation when clinical care is needed (emergencies, primary care, specialties, hospital admissions, etc.)
Digital Prescriptions
The purpose of digital prescriptions is to provide electronic access to medical prescriptions from any pharmacy in the country. This means that citizens would be able to collect their prescriptions from any pharmacy in the country without the need to present a paper prescription, thus releasing the doctor from the administrative duty of the medical prescription, especially for chronic illnesses, and so encouraging the development of programs such as the Rational Use of Medications initiative.
Source: www.agenciafe.com
