Ministry of Digital Transformation: Open data in the healthcare sector allows Ukrainians to save money and receive better services

Ukraine has for the first time studied how the disclosure of public data in the medical field affects patients, business and healthcare reform.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation, in the framework of the USAID/UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services/TAPAS Project, presented the results of a qualitative study on the impact of open data of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Service of Ukraine on society.

The report contains an analysis of the state of access to public data in the medical field. Thus, the National Health Service of Ukraine is one of the leaders in publishing data. Since September 2019, 8 data sets have been published on the Unified State Open Data Web Portal. NHSU also uses dashboards. Among them are those that show the size of the budget funds were paid to medical institutions and pharmacies in any region and for which services, data on hospitals, the number of signed declarations with specialists, information on COVID-19, etc.

On the basis of open data, services are created that help patients and businesses to solve problematic issues in the medical field.

Economy and safety when buying drugs or receiving them free of charge: the Drug Control service allows you to find cheaper analogues and protect oneself from counterfeits. With the help of the Available Medicine service, one can check the availability of drugs purchased at public expense in the hospital, and not buy them in case of their prescription. Dashboard about pharmacies participating in the "Affordable Medicines" program helps to find the nearest pharmacy where you can get medicine for free under the reimbursement program.

The choice of doctor and signing of declarations: the dashboard "Electronic map of places of primary care" and the project "Open medical reform" allow to check the workload of doctors and find out who else signs declarations with patients.

Communication with medical institutions.

Due to the local portal "MedKontrol" and the chat bot "Marta" in Mariupol, you can quickly make an appointment with a doctor, remotely get information about the disease, diagnosis and medication.

Business development of pharmacy owners. The Dashboard on Pharmacies Participating in the Affordable Medicines Program will help determine which areas lack pharmacies and decide whether to join the Affordable Medicines Program.

In addition, open data promotes transparency and accountability of government and health facilities. The NHSU reports on funds spent on medical services and purchased drugs, which helps reduce corruption. Investigative journalists also prepare materials that influence government decision-making for the benefit of society, as well as tell about the progress of healthcare reform.

"The Impact of the Open Data of the National Health Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine is the third report in a series of qualitative anti-corruption studies that analyze the impact of data disclosure on Ukraine's economy. Earlier, a study on open data in the construction sector and open data on road construction and repair was presented.