From June 2016, health booklets will no longer be validated in the Federation

If everything goes according to plan, citizens in the Federation of BiH will no longer have to validate their health booklets from mid-2016, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

The Federal Ministry of Health plans to complete the project of computerization in health centers and outpatient clinics in the Federation next year, which began back in 2012. The project, worth about 5.5 million euros and financed by the World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank, entails that paper health records should be replaced by electronic ones from next year, and instead of paper booklets, citizens will receive electronic health booklets...  

The plan of the Federal Ministry of Health is that in the future, referrals and prescriptions will also be available to citizens only in electronic form.

Spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Health, Zlatan Peršić, told the Bosnian news agency Patria that the computerization of the system will enable a faster, more efficient, and more rational healthcare system in the Federation.

- The introduction of electronic records enables family doctors to work more easily and quickly; the introduction of electronic health cards would eliminate the obligation of regular validation of booklets since this would be done electronically; and electronic referrals and prescriptions would further significantly speed up the flow of medical information within the system, thus accelerating procedures and providing patients with faster and more efficient healthcare services – said Peršić.  

He added that in health centers and outpatient clinics where electronic health records have already been introduced, there is a faster flow of patients, writes Patria.