HISCOM project: a pioneering innovation in health care and public administration2012. április 24.
Unique by European standards, a data communication system has been developed in Balatonfüred. This special IT innovation connects existing programs and databases and facilitates their communication. Therefore, the method may be applied in any area where non-uniform IT systems are used. The HISCOM system of Pan-Inform Kft. primarily makes healthcare services more efficient and comfortable. It helps therapists diagnose medical conditions with greater precision, faster and simpler than before, making all previous medical examination data available with ease and safety.
HISCOM (Hospital Information Systems COMmunication) operates much like a municipal public utility: it is just as unnoticed as underground canals. It should be pointed out that the computers and programs used so far by doctors and health institutions need not be replaced but are connected by HISCOM, which improves the efficiency of services by reducing the costs of patient information exchanges, explains Managing Director Gábor Zsolt Náray. HISCOM does not call for any additional investment to implement patient data exchanges between health care service providers in a protected and authorised manner, saving patients from any undue trip. All in all, in addition to speeding up the process of health care services, it saves money both for the institutions and for patients. The nearly HUF 600 million budget of the research and development project received HUF 300 million of support from the New Széchenyi Plan. While the development phase was closed at the end of last year, HISCOM has already raised significant international attention.
The system is not only suitable for health care but also for any other area where non-uniform IT systems are used. HISCOM was recently presented in Balatonfüred, where Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Hungarian public administration, said “This development, which is now unparalleled and unrivalled in the European market, proves that IT developments which support Hungarian health care have a promising future. HISCOM, a system of high performance even by European standards, may be a major breakthrough point for Hungarian economic development and, in a wider sense, for the competitiveness of Hungary. The development is designed in a way as to be useful even public administration. For instance, it could facilitate data communication within and between local governments.”
The Semmelweis Plan includes the establishment of a system of regional services and a network of large and micro regions. The geographical penetration makes communication between health institutions, whether hospitals or polyclinics, a priority. It is important to have access to previous patient data, i.e. medical history.
Managing Director Gábor Zsolt Náray emphasised that the development will soon obtain the IHE qualification, which will make sales across Europe possible. “HISCOM is not only able to speed up significantly the process of patient care, but also to make it more professional. Also, it saves patients from the nuisance of repeated examinations and reduces the consequent undue expenditures of the Health Insurance Fund. In addition, this electronic system prevents patients from regularly taking their printed medical records to their doctors and from the possibility of losing them.”
Efficient and sustainable health care is in our mutual interest. Its restructuring will be faster and smoother if it is supported by an appropriate IT background. HISCOM is able to connect, both on a regional and on a national level, all medical systems that are still operated in isolation, and to make health care services more efficient, facilitating the institutional centralisation process, which will merge the health care service system.
In sum, funding by the New Széchenyi Plan has given Balatonfüred, a town which is well-known for its tourism, a large development centre which is based exclusively on professional values. The centre will support the implementation of local and regional strategic plans by providing employment, not only on a seasonal basis, but throughout the year.
Source: Heti Válasz