Government puts healthcare digitalization on the right track

The Ministry of Health has launched the National Health Digitalization Strategy for 2026-2030 for public consultation, a document that aims to transform technology from a collection of disparate projects into a coherent public policy of the system. The announcement was made by the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, who stressed that digitalization can no longer be treated as an option or an indefinite-term objective. In a message published on Facebook, the minister said that the strategy aims to eliminate paper bureaucracy and truly integrate technology into the daily functioning of the healthcare system.

"Digitalization in healthcare is no longer a promise or an isolated project. It becomes, clearly and assumedly, a system policy. We are putting the National Health Digitalization Strategy 2026-2030 for public consultation and we are clearly stating how we are removing pen and paper from hospitals and how we are integrating technology into the real functioning of the healthcare system", stated Alexandru Rogobete. According to him, the strategy aims to put an end to bureaucratic practices that make medical procedures difficult, from files transferred between institutions to hand-filled forms and IT systems that are not compatible with each other.

One of the key principles of the strategy is the introduction of the "enter once, use many times" rule, which requires that medical data be collected once and reused in a secure and controlled manner throughout the entire public healthcare system. "We are introducing the simple and correct rule: "enter once, use many times". Integrated, secure and interoperable medical data", stated the minister. In the Ministry of Health's vision, interoperability becomes the rule, not the exception, so that hospitals, outpatient clinics, family medicine and emergency services can use the same standards and the same data sets.

• The electronic file, again at the center of the reform

The strategy also provides for the real functionalization of the electronic health file, a tool that, although it has existed for several years, has been used fragmentarily or inefficiently. "We are making the electronic health file functional, so that medical information is available to professionals, not on paper passed between institutions," emphasized Rogobete. The minister drew attention to the fact that, in the absence of "correctly" integrated technology, medical staff and patients waste valuable time, essential information gets lost, and clinical decisions are made without access to complete data. In addition to the technical infrastructure, the strategy emphasizes the training of medical staff. The ministry aims to invest in digital skills, so that the technology is used daily in medical practice, not just formally checked off within funded projects. "We are investing in digital skills for medical staff, so that technology is used daily, not just checked off in projects," the Minister of Health also said. In conclusion, Alexandru Rogobete claims that the strategy moves data where it really matters: in the hands of health professionals and in support of patients.