Digital solutions guide
What is the digital solutions guide?
The digital solutions guide brings together important information that a digital solution manufacturer should consider in the different development stages of a solution. The guide focuses on three points of contact between the state and a digital solution manufacturer.
- Interoperability, i.e., data exchange between the digital solution and national databases and/or those of healthcare providers.
- Security and efficiency.
- Permanent reimbursement by the Health Insurance Fund
You have to navigate the journey already in the initial stage of product development, because there are principles here that can directly affect the manufacturers when developing a solution. For example, the information gathered here helps consider all important data exchange issues already in the product development stage.
The digital solutions guide was prepared in cooperation with the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, the Ministry of Social Affairs, The Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre and the Health Board. The guide contains information that was available in 2022 and is continuously updated.
Who does the digital solutions guide help?
The guide is primarily designed for digital solutions manufacturers, helping them better navigate possible cooperation topics with the state and healthcare service providers.
The guide helps evaluate digital solutions intended for patients, in certain cases also solutions used by healthcare professionals and other healthcare services that enable data exchange. It is not reasonable to evaluate multifunctional information systems, such as hospital or general practitioner software, based on this journey. Although the principles described here are universal and apply to everyone, the software of medical institutions are complex solutions with many functions, and their manufacturers must be familiar with the principles, however, there may be additional aspects to evaluate that are not covered by the digital solutions guide.
The digital solutions guide primarily describes the points of contact between the state and the digital solution manufacturer, but it can also help healthcare institutions choose and evaluate the solutions to be used. The Health Insurance Fund does not and never will finance every single solution, so healthcare institutions can choose the solutions that are suitable for use within the limits of their resources. Thus, healthcare institutions can make their decisions based on the principles presented here. In case of some compensation models of the Health Insurance Fund (for example, remote appointments/consultations), the Health Insurance Fund sets the minimum criteria that the solution must meet as a prerequisite for financing the service, but the healthcare institution chooses itself which solution to use.