An end to the medical paperwork: Today (Monday), the Knesset plenum approved in second and third reading the medical information portability bill of MK Yoni Meshariki, chairman of the health committee, which states that any person can transfer his medical information to another fund, or to any party another professional in the health system while maintaining his privacy and with his consent. The flow of information will ensure continuity and continuity in treatment, and will help provide accurate treatment with fewer medical errors.
To this day, the medical information is “stuck” in the transition between the health funds: in many cases the medical file of the patient who moved from one health fund to another remains in the old health fund, or is transferred only in part because the law currently does not require the health funds to transfer the medical information about the patient to a competing health fund. In other cases, the HMOs withheld information from the patients, transferred data in a printed and partial form, or required a long bureaucratic process in the HMO Registrar’s department to receive a single document or a full summary.
The new law will easily allow the digital transfer of information between the funds, or to any other entity in the health system that the patient will need assistance from, while maintaining the security of the information. The patient will be required to sign a consent form for the release of the medical information, which can flow to the requested party. Meanwhile, according to the bill, the health fund will allow the insured a service of displaying all his medical information digitally in the personal area of the insured on the health fund website.
“In recent years, an information revolution has been developing in the world, which is dramatically changing the services of the health care system,” said the initiator of the bill and chairman of the Knesset’s health committee, MK Yoni Meshariki. Their medical history, including diagnoses, treatments, and tests, will go along with them. The law will also allow doctors to get a complete and accurate picture of the patient’s medical condition, will help in providing appropriate treatment and adjusting the right medications to make more informed decisions and provide optimal care.”