By: Dr Janez Tušek
I am sorry to hear that illness or the need for a medical procedure has led me to the bitter realisation of what digitalisation means in our healthcare system, and where our healthcare system has significantly lagged behind in development.
For 42 years, I contributed to the healthcare fund. Not a single day during that time was I on sick leave, let alone for such a long period as to burden the healthcare fund. Considering that I held relatively responsible positions, it means that I contributed more than the average to the healthcare fund, but today it means nothing. We simply live in a sort of leftist socialism!
The ravages of time have also affected my hips. Given the known waiting times, I decided to undergo an examination and procedure at a private healthcare facility. Following a preventive and general examination by the orthopaedist, I was advised to first undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray examination of my knees and hips. After reviewing all the findings, X-ray images, and MRI scans, the orthopaedist determined that urgent replacement of my right hip was necessary.
The waiting time? One year! Enduring a year with pain at every step? No, that is too much, I thought to myself.
The only logical solution was surgery, or replacement of the worn-out hip with an artificial one, at a private healthcare clinic where there are practically no waiting lists.
I quickly received a surgery date and instructions on what I needed to do before the operation, or which preventive examinations I needed to undergo on my body. My personal physician, thankfully, promptly came to my aid. I was given dates for blood tests, a cardiac examination, and a lung examination. Everything proceeded as it should, or as one would expect as a person who pays, or has paid, into the healthcare fund.
There was a hitch when it came to collecting the test results. I had my blood test done at a health centre on the eastern outskirts of Ljubljana, which is not in the area of my permanent residence. The staff was friendly, professional, and courteous. However, when I asked for the blood test results to be sent to my email address, there was a snag.
“No, we do not do that, we do not have staff to do it that way,” the medical nurse said somewhat sharply. “You can collect the test results in person from us the next day between nine and one,” she explained. If I remember correctly, I replied, “Alright”, thanked her for the explanation, and left.
The next day, the waiting room at the mentioned facility was empty. I rang the bell, the door opened, and I stepped up to the window of the healthcare centre’s employee. I explained why I was there and handed her my health insurance card. Nevertheless, she asked for my name and surname, typed it, and searched for my name on the list. When she found me on the list, she opened the report, printed it, and handed it to me on a single sheet of paper.
Exactly the same tasks should have been performed by the same person to have the blood test report sent to me via email. Likewise, they would have typed my name and surname and a few characters of my email. This would have saved on additional work with clients upon report collection, on paper, and especially on our part, citizens, so that we would not have to spend two or even more hours to personally collect the report. Moreover, this report could have been sent to other addresses, such as to the orthopaedist who will be operating on me in this case.
A similar situation occurred at our old Polyclinic in Ljubljana, where I had a chest X-ray done. Here too, I underwent the examination quickly, without waiting, and with very friendly staff. They also instructed me to collect the report the next day between ten and twelve. The next day, I drove again to the garage near the Polyclinic and limped with my painful leg to collect the report. In this case as well, I provided my personal information when collecting the report, which the professional colleague typed, searched for the report, and handed it to me in physical form.
The third example occurred after the operation when I was arranging the rehabilitation of my operated hip at a selected spa. The doctor who operated on my leg wrote in the discharge letter that wound dressing was necessary every two days by the personal physician and stitch removal on the thirteenth day after the operation by the personal physician. I do not have a personal physician at the healthcare unit where I have permanent residence. However, because I was severely immobile and could not drive, my personal physician decided that I was eligible for a visit from a district nurse at home. To arrange this, my personal physician wrote a work order in paper form, which she kindly left at the reception of the healthcare centre at my request; otherwise, I would have had to collect it from my personal physician during her working hours. Since I was immobile, I sent my son-in-law to collect the order, and he physically picked it up and took it to the Health Centre Ljubljana Vič, where my permanent residence is located.
This means that even healthcare centres in the Ljubljana area do not operate via email.
These are three textbook examples of how business should not be conducted in today’s world. I do not know how Slovenian industry could be competitive if modern tools were not used for customer service inquiries, various work requests, materials, equipment, and other needs.
WHEN I ASKED FOR THE BLOOD TEST RESULTS TO BE SENT TO MY EMAIL ADDRESS, THERE WAS A SNAG.
Amidst all this sadness, another striking fact is that the district nurse who visited me at home does not have an official mobile phone. In practice, this means that she, who is constantly in the field, dealing with people who are often immobile, has to use her personal mobile phone. In everyday practice, she uses her phone with a hidden number. This is entirely understandable for her safety. She calls the client she intends to visit from her phone without revealing her phone number, which means you cannot call her back, even in emergencies.
That is the state of affairs in the digital realm of our healthcare. I do not know if the responsible Minister for Digital Transformation of the Republic of Slovenia is aware of this. I also do not know if this situation was described, demonstrated, and criticised during the recent interpellation in the Slovenian parliament.
It must be added that our personal physicians, nurses, or other healthcare personnel who are constantly in contact with citizens are not to blame for this backwardness in the digital field of our healthcare. The blame lies with the leadership in healthcare organisations. And in this day and age, in the organisation of our government, primarily with the Minister for Digital Transformation and the Minister of Health. As far as we are informed, the Minister for Digital Transformation deals with computer trading, travels the world, and does not deal with digital transformation in our public institutions. However, logically, this should be her primary task.
To eliminate all the aforementioned problems, very little time and resources would be needed. A positive approach and goodwill are required. Unfortunately, these are lacking in our leftist government. Members of this government, and especially the Minister for Digital Transformation, insult, and label us, claiming we dislike immigrants and women. What Minister Emilija Stojmenova Duh stated in the parliament during the interpellation is an insult to the entire Slovenian nation. How many refugees have we accepted in our history, and how many of these refugees have succeeded in our society? In the previous system and in independent Slovenia, we adapted to them more than they did to us, educated them, accepted them into our environment, and even accepted their customs.
I am amazed that not a single Slovenian non-governmental organisation or society has demanded an apology from this disrespectful lady.
Healthcare is just one of the areas where citizens of Slovenia encounter the described problems.
Those of us who lead companies also encounter such problems in other areas. In dealings with the state administration, with the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (SPIZ), with the Employment Service, etc. There is not enough space here to list all the unproductive demands that the state administration imposes on entrepreneurs.
