Ministry of Health: Two international assessment tools added to eHealth system for recording patient condition during rehabilitation

Two new digital tools have been added to the electronic healthcare system, helping doctors to better describe and store information about the progress of patients’ rehabilitation. These are international assessment scales, the results of which can now be entered directly into the patient’s e-record in the eHealth system.

The added tools are:

• ASIA (ISNCSCI) – used to assess impairments following spinal cord injuries;
• Barthel Index (extended) – indicates how independent a person is in everyday life.

These tools help specialists evaluate the patient’s condition at the start of rehabilitation and track changes over time.

This means that information about patient’s rehabilitation will be stored electronically and will not be lost. If treatment continues at another facility, doctors will be able to refer to the results of previous assessments (where access is available) and make decisions about further recovery and necessary support based on more complete and consistent data.

Persons undergoing rehabilitation should contact their physical and rehabilitation medicine doctor, who will explain how the assessment is conducted and what information is recorded in the system.

Background

Since 2023, rehabilitation data in the eHealth system have been recorded using the International Classification of Functioning (ICF). Over this period, more than 17 million medical records using ICF have been entered into the system. This enables the creation of a comprehensive electronic history of the patient’s recovery. Where necessary, a doctor can provide a paper extract from the eHealth system.

The implementation of the rehabilitation component in the electronic healthcare system is being carried out by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the National Health Service of Ukraine, and the state enterprise Electronic Health in cooperation with the Advisor to the President of Ukraine on barrier-free access, the TRUE. Trauma Rehabilitation for Ukraine initiative of the Charitable Foundation “Patients of Ukraine”, with support from Switzerland (Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine), the European Union in Ukraine, and the Belgian international cooperation agency Enabel in Ukraine.