Aim and objectives:
Estonia’s health service has been digital for 12 years. More than 99% of the data generated by hospitals and doctors is digitised.
Target group:
Citizens can access their own medical records via a super-secure online portal and choose who gets to look at those records.
Method:
Many health services happen online — from video consultations to e-prescriptions. Services are intersectoral, also including notifications of death. For example, once a death is registered online, notifications are automatically sent to that person’s workplace, the tax office, and the population registry.
Outcome:
The system is highly transparent and health professionals can communicate easily with patients. Moreover, patients are empowered to ‘lock’ and ‘unlock’ their own data thereby deciding who has access to their data. Moreover, being highly people-centred, citizens are also involved in key decisions about the system.
Added value:
Trustworthiness is built into the system’s design. Every time someone accesses a patient’s information, it is logged. No one can check the medical records just for curiosity. The system is designed to integrate citizen science to inform and qualify digital services.
