Submitting documents for medical assessment is to be carried out entirely online, while TELK and NELK decisions are to undergo an automated risk assessment. This is provided for in the amendments to the Health Act adopted at first reading.
The bill has not yet come into force. It must pass a second reading and a final vote, and changes to the texts may be made in the meantime.
Documents will be submitted electronically
It is envisaged that applications and documents for medical assessment will be able to be submitted electronically not only with a qualified electronic signature, but also with a cloud-based electronic signature. It can be obtained free of charge, said MP from „Democratic Bulgaria“ and bill sponsor Aleksandar Simidchiev.
The aim is for people with disabilities and their relatives not to have to repeatedly visit institutions and medical facilities to submit documents and wait before the commissions.
Evgenia Tsvetkova says that her first visit for the medical assessment of her son, who has autism, was marked by a prolonged wait. According to her, the child was hyperactive and unable to stay in one place for a long time.
Automated assessment will identify high-risk cases
The submitted documents are to be stored in a database where the information can also be processed with the help of artificial intelligence. The system is expected to divide cases according to the risk of an unlawful decision.
The decisions will not be made by the software. They will remain the responsibility of the respective TELK and NELK, while additional checks may be carried out in high-risk cases.
„So that special attention can be paid to high-risk cases,“ Simidchiev explained.
According to him, oversight is also necessary because of the number of people with expert decisions. Simidchiev said that there are more than 800,000 people with TELK decisions in Bulgaria, which, in his words, is a high figure compared with other European countries. He claims that some of the decisions may have been issued to people who do not need them, reducing the resources available to those who genuinely need them.
Second reading is forthcoming
The comprehensive bill on amendments to the Health Act was adopted at first vote by Parliament’s Health Care Committee on October 15. The deadline for proposals between the first and second readings was extended until November 6.
The texts are expected to be considered at second reading by the end of November at the latest. Until then, the electronic procedure and automated checking of decisions remain proposals rather than rules in force.
Sources: btvnovinite.bg