Digitalization of healthcare – not an expense, but an investment
Sectoral strategy, cross-party consensus, and public implementation are the key pillars upon which the digital transformation of Bulgarian healthcare should be based. This was stated by Mira Ganova, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Cluster for Digital Solutions and Innovations in Healthcare, and Radoy Pavlov, Technology Architect at the University Hospital Zurich, during the “Business Start” show hosted by Zhivka Popatanasova.
“Of course, the digital transformation of Bulgarian healthcare is possible. But it must be a long process, and its first steps should be the subject of cross-party consensus,” commented Mira Ganova. “There can be no sustainable economy without effective healthcare. Numerous steps need to be taken by Bulgarian politicians, and they must be taken quickly. The first step towards building a national health architecture is a unified sectoral strategy for digitalization. Our organization has developed such a strategy, which has been proposed to the authorities and is expected to be adopted and consolidated.” commented the Executive Director of the Digital health and Innovation Cluster Bulgaria.
It became clear from the discussion that electronic healthcare is included as the fourth priority in the National Health Strategy 2021-2030, drafted by the Ministry of Health.
“The previous three areas are the result of electronic healthcare, and they can only be achieved when priority 4 becomes the foundation, on top of which the other priorities will be built. Investment in the digitalization of healthcare is not an expense or overspending, but a real investment. Digitalization provides transparency and control of processes – when we are able to track them correctly, we will be able to make effective and informed decisions, and then the financial parameters will return to the system”
According to Radoy Pavlov, Bulgaria is not obligated to start from scratch in this transformation, as there are countries that began this transition 15-20 years ago, and we have the wonderful opportunity to learn from their mistakes and successes.
“Digital transformation in Switzerland is an achievement not only of politicians but, most importantly, of society. Therefore, our initiative for creating a sectoral strategy and health architecture is based on successful models from around the world.”
The technology architect from the University Hospital Zurich shared that in Switzerland, the transformation was a long process, full of mistakes from which Bulgaria can learn valuable lessons.
“Ten years ago, Switzerland launched a very large campaign to digitize their healthcare. However, they missed the opportunity to introduce all these innovations into their society – not only among citizens but also among their specialists.”
You can watch the entire conversation in the video on the official BloombergTV page.
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