Ukraine's parliament adopts law on telemedicine
Holos Party MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.
He specified that 311 MPs had voted for bill No. 9384.
The law introduces amendments to the foundations of Ukraine's legislation on health care, the Law on rehabilitation in the field of health care and the law on emergency medical care in order to introduce a comprehensive and systematic approach to the formation and implementation of state policy in terms of the development of telemedicine to preserve and strengthen the health of the nation by improving the quality and availability of medical services, expanding opportunities for patients, as well as improving the efficiency of management and use of health care resources.
The wording of the bill for its second reading clarified and unified, in particular, the definitions of the concepts "telediagnosis and counseling", "telemetry", "digital competence of employees in the field of health care", which will contribute to legal certainty and unambiguous enforcement of these concepts.
The implementation of the law is expected to solve problems related to the strategic approach to the development of telemedicine in Ukraine. In particular, the state's capacity to provide life-saving and medical assistance will be strengthened, and the capacity of Ukraine's health care system to provide the necessary medical assistance in the event of emergency situations and military threats will increase.
At the same time, it is expected that health care costs will be optimized due to the better use of available technical, personnel and financial resources, effective provision of medical care and reduction of the number of complications that lead to the need for more expensive treatment. The quality, safety, convenience and availability of medical services for the population of Ukraine will also increase, especially for patients who are in difficult conditions and do not have the opportunity to contact a medical institution in person, as well as for underserved and vulnerable groups of patients.
On June 13, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft law amending some legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the functioning of telemedicine (No. 9384) at first reading.
