Billy Kelleher
Question:661. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if the individual health identifier business application tool has been procured and configured; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33937/17]
View answerThursday, 13 July 2017
Questions (661, 662, 663, 664)
Billy Kelleher
Question:662. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if the individual health identifier business service has been implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33938/17]
View answerBilly Kelleher
Question:663. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if the individual health identifier has been rolled out to initial selected GPs; and the number of GPs selected. [33939/17]
View answerBilly Kelleher
Question:664. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health his plans to roll out the individual health identifier to national systems, further GPs and first hospital systems. [33940/17]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 661 to 664, inclusive, together.
The introduction of an Individual Health Identifier (IHI) is an important patient safety initiative. It is also a key building block in the eHealth agenda which is crucial to developing a modern integrated health service. Its introduction can also allow the managed improvement of data quality, which in turn can have an impact on patient access to health services.
On 30 May 2017, I signed the Health Identifiers Act 2014 (Commencement) Order 2017 (S.I. No. 236 of 2017) and the Health Identifiers Act 2014 (Health Services Providers) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 237 of 2017). The main purpose of the Order and Regulations is to facilitate access to the National Individual Health Identifier Register by health services providers and other specified persons and their use of the IHI for the purposes permitted under the Act. Access to the IHI Register and the use of the IHI is tightly regulated under the Health Identifiers Act 2014 and includes offences provisions.
As part of the initial phase-in of the Individual Health Identifier, IHI numbers have now been provided to 11 volunteer General Practitioners and an additional 11 further volunteer General Practitioners are scheduled to receive IHI numbers over the next number of weeks. In addition to the 11 volunteer General Practitioners, the IHI is available in electronic referrals (eReferrals) transmitted from General Practitioners to Hospitals.
The phase-in plan (2017 to Q1 2018) for the Individual Health Identifier currently includes the provision of IHI numbers as a priority for the PCRS Schemes, the National Radiology System (NIMIS), the National Maternity and New Born Clinical Management System (MN-CMS), the National Laboratory System (MedLIS), the National Epilepsy Electronic Patient record system (Epilepsy EPR), the National Hepatitis C Register and the National Cancer Screening Service. The IHI Programme is actively engaged in progressing the implementation of the IHI for each of these systems. The IHI number is also planned to be provided into the first major hospital patient administration system by the end of this year.
An appropriate business application tool has been developed in the HSE to support the Individual Health Identifier Business Service in its current operational capacity. Not only does this allow the Individual Health Identifier Business Service to operate, it will also inform the specification of requirements in advance of procuring a subsequent larger scale business application tool required to support the Individual Health Identifier Business Service in an expanded operating environment. That Individual Health Identifier Business Service now in operation is currently staffed by project team resources with operational processes and procedures designed and implemented by the current business team.