Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev and Minister of Health Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliyski signed a memorandum of cooperation between the Sofia Municipality and the Ministry of Health.
The signing of the memorandum is a clearly stated will for cooperation in the field of healthcare and for better coordination between institutions on a topic of extremely high public interest. The topic of health cannot be considered formally or piecemeal. Society's expectations are for better organization, more accessible services, higher quality, more transparency and more effective management. That is why such a document is important as a basis for cooperation that can lead to better results for people.
During the meeting, Mayor Vasil Terziev raised the issue of the need to expand the functionalities of the National Health Information System in the part related to medical activities financed by municipal budgets.
The Sofia Municipality proposed that the system provide an opportunity for clear identification of the source of funding “municipal budget“, for electronic reporting of these activities, including through an electronic inventory and electronic invoice, as well as for real-time access by the municipal administration to information about the activities paid for by the municipality.
The possibility of using anonymized and summarized data from the National Health Information System for planning municipal health policy, including in the field of prevention, prophylaxis and screening, as well as for more effective targeting of funds to activities in municipal medical institutions that respond to unmet health needs was also discussed. needs.
“We want the National Health Information System to enable not only clear electronic reporting of activities financed by the municipal budget, but also the use of anonymized and summarized data for better planning of municipal health policy. This is important in order to simultaneously have transparency of costs, ongoing control and smarter targeting of resources towards prevention, prophylaxis, screening and activities that cover real health needs“, said the Mayor of Sofia Vasil Terziev.
Terziev also raised the topic of creating conditions for the results of the pilot project to be used as the basis for a national model. If successful, this mechanism can be implemented in other municipalities and become a standard for more transparent management of municipal funds in healthcare.
The Minister of Health, Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliyski, emphasized the importance of partnership between institutions on World Health Day.
“On April 7, we remind ourselves of how important human life, prevention and timely care are. With this memorandum, we are marking the beginning of closer interaction between our two institutions and concrete joint work for the benefit of the people“, said the Minister of Health, Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliyski.
With the memorandum, the two institutions declared a commitment to closer partnership, better coordination and consistent work on solutions that improve the management of public resources and the quality of healthcare services for citizens.