Development of digital health solutions - workshop in Moldova

Prosjektbeskrivelse

The event has its origins in a request by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Data and Digital Health unit, to plan and facilitate a four-day workshop together with the WHO in Chisinau, Moldova (19 - 22 June, 2023). The Moldovan Ministry of Health was the main stakeholder.

Moldova's ICT sector is rapidly growing, and internet access is affordable, with about 80% of the population having online access. Recently, Moldova has made significant achievements in its digital transformation journey, including creating a national digital agency and developing electronic ID and e-signature, among other e-services. Those services are managed by a web portal which offers over 200 e-services for citizens, along with information about additional public services.

However, with regards to e-health, there are still several challenges to overcome, such as insufficient funding, a lack of qualified human resources, implementation delays, limited project management capacity, need for stakeholder involvement, and lack of interoperability among existing IT systems.

In addition to the broader goal of healthcare digital transformation, there is a need to address the healthcare needs of refugees in Moldova. The country has welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees, primarily from Ukraine. Providing adequate care, follow-up, and access to medicines poses challenges due to a lack of preparedness, shortages in healthcare staff, inadequate health data and patient records, and unsuitable regulations to manage the influx effectively.

Project period

The project started in February and lasted until August, 2023. This includes pre-workshop preparations and programming, coordination during the event, and post-workshop reporting.

Mål

The workshop aims to provide a platform for knowledge sharing, capacity building, and best practice exchange on various topics related to digital health. A main goal is to develop a roadmap for an e-prescription solution in Moldova. Needs, barriers and opportunities will be explored.

Metode

During the interactive workshop, the participants shared experiences and received knowledge about e-prescription systems, digital transformation trends, interoperability, telemedicine, governance and strategies for strengthening health systems. European experts from the healthcare and digital health domain presented key topics. Country examples of implementing e-prescription will be shared from subject matter specialists from Estonia, Sweden and Finland.

An important method for learning was the group work that took place on all four days. In the group sessions the stakeholders discussed in detail the factors that can influence successful outcomes of health-IT projects and drafted a roadmap for addressing the most pressing needs. The discussions and findings from the workshop will be summarised in a report.

Konklusjon

The workshop will build capacity, share knowledge, and showcase best practices in digital health solutions.