Aspects of digitisation of healthcare activities in Romania
Authors: BADEA Narcis Dumitru 
Published: October 2024

In the current Romanian Government's programme there are projects for the digitisation of some economic, financial and administrative activities and their integration at national level, in order to assist legal and natural persons in their relations with the authorities in this field as listed and detailed in the NATIONAL RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE PLAN (Resizing, standardisation and optimisation of the Health Insurance Information Platform (PIAS) , Digitisation of health institutions under the Ministry of Health, Investment in information systems and digital infrastructure of public health units, Telemedicine and mobile patient monitoring systems) There are projects being developed at governmental and parliamentary level, under discussion, funded by the EU through the NATIONAL RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE PLAN (PNRR) programme, so as to achieve integration both at national level and within the EU for some areas. The government has prioritised digitisation programmes of interest to the national budget, but also to local budgets, with the aim of increasing the level of investment funds, through drastic measures to reduce expenditure at budget and local level, in particular by reorganising overburdened organisation charts and outsourcing. Of course, it is also envisaged to speed up bureaucratic relations between individuals and legal entities in their interest and to eliminate "queues" at various counters. The situation and the objectives of digitisation in the case of healthcare institutions in relation to the individuals concerned and the specific authorities are different. Digitisation can also be an effective tool for companies and non-governmental organisations to control and monitor production and service activities. The Romanian medical system consists of various types of hospital units, polyclinics, treatment centers, state or private medical offices under the Ministry of Health or local authorities. It is obvious that there must be a two-way relationship between all these, so that the citizen, as the sole beneficiary, is as satisfied as possible. The National Institute of Statistics (NIS) has registered and categorised all types of state or private institutions and organisations, which are obliged, according to the legislation in force, to report periodically various data necessary for carrying out complex activities in the health system, in the interest of the ministries and institutions concerned. The NSI develops and interprets the data received to help decision-makers make decisions, especially in the event of force majeure (pandemics, war, or other possible crises). The great diversity of medical establishments that have emerged since 1989, whether state or private, has led the Ministry of Health to become objectively involved in their activities by drafting laws and regulations, regularly monitoring their activities and regularly updating them in line with economic and social developments and the requirements laid down by the EU.The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the major shortcomings of the Romanian medical system, so that regulations and procedures had to be drawn up, with some adverse consequences for the economy and the population of the country (closure of schools, import of various health materials, restructuring of medical staff, emergency interventions, technical unemployment, home work, etc.) and more detailed regulations should be drawn up for cases of force majeure, taking into account the current situation at the northern and eastern border of Romania.