E-Health Transformation Model in Serbia: Design, Architecture and Developing

Electronic health (e-health), or the electronic health system, allows a more efficient performance of all participants in the healthcare chain reducing administrative costs. In developing e-health, healthcare institutions are given an opportunity to improve the quality of their services through the use of advanced electronic systems. This paper presents the strategy of designing and developing a health information system, i.e. storing of all information on health status of every citizen in a central database. It should take the form of an electronic health record, while the citizens will have their own personal health record - file, which will allow communication with the central database. Unlike some other types of electronic transactions, where security issues are predominantly concerned with payments, e-health has an added "complication" of sending confidential, important and sensitive information over the Internet. For this reason, introduction of electronic "smart" cards within the new health information system (HIS) is planned, as their security encryption mechanisms will ensure secure communication within the proposed system.