Info

Coordinating Institution
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Poland
National node website
https://www.gov.pl/web/zdrowie
National Node Description

Poland does not have a formal National Node appointed. Different national organizations such as the Ministry of Health (MZ), National Institute of Public Health (NIZP-PZH), Central Statistical Office (GUS), Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS), Center for eHealth (CeZ) and other entities involved in the process of health data collection, monitoring and supervision, cooperate to discuss matters related to health data, also as regards data on COVID-19.

Governance and legal framework
Legal framework and institutional responsibilities

The coordinator of the PHIRI Health Information Portal is the Ministry of Health – Department of Analyses and Strategy.

The Ministry of Health is the governmental administration office that supports the minister of health. As part of this service, it performs tasks in terms of:

  • supervision over the National Health Fund,
  • reimbursement of drugs, medical devices and foodstuffs for particular nutritional uses,
  • supervision over the performance of medical professions,
  • developing and coordinating the implementation of health programs,
  • organization and supervision of the State Medical Rescue system,
  • implementation of tasks related to health resort treatment.
Health information strategy

The main regulation covering the healthcare information system is the Act of 28 April 2011 on the information system in health care. The information system includes databases operating under:

  • Medical Information System (SIM)
  • domain-specific ICT systems
  • medical registers

The Act defines the organization and operation of the information system in health care. The information system processes data necessary to conduct the state health policy, improve the quality and availability of health care services and finance tasks in the field of health protection.

Health information sources and players
Main players (institutions)

The Ministry of Health as a coordinating unit closely cooperates among others with the following institutions:

National Institute of Public Health (Narodowy Instytut Zdrowia Publicznego – Państwowy Zakład Higieny NIZP-PZH) is the national public health institute appointed by the Polish Ministry of Health to act in different areas of preventive medicine. Its activities relate to epidemiology of communicable and chronic diseases, food safety, environmental health, and health promotion. It performs i.a. the following tasks:

  • monitoring the health situation and assessing the health needs of the population in Poland
  • monitoring and assessment of biological, chemical and physical risk factors for human health, including in the aspect of food and water safety
  • securing the population against infectious diseases and activities related to the prevention of chronic diseases
  • conducting economic and system analyses in health care
  • conducting expert activities for the needs of state institutions, the European Commission and business entities
  • monitoring the health situation and assessing the health needs of the population in Poland

State Sanitary Inspection is subordinate to the minister responsible for health. The inspection is managed by the Chief Sanitary Inspector, which is the central body of government administration. The Chief Sanitary Inspector determines the general directions of activities of the bodies of the State Sanitary Inspection and coordinates and supervises the activities of these bodies. It also manages the information exchange system within the information exchange systems in accordance with the Ordinance of the Minister of Health of October 17, 2014 on information exchange systems in the scope related to the tasks of the State Sanitary Inspection.

National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia NFZ) manages the healthcare system in Poland. It is financed by compulsory health insurance contributions and finances health services provided to insured persons and reimburses the cost of medicines. It signs contracts with doctors and healthcare benefit offices as part of the overall healthcare system. The President of the Fund is appointed by the Prime Minister at the request of the minister of health after consultation with the Council of the Fund. There is a branch in each of the 16 provinces (voivodships).

Centre for e-Health (Centrum e-Zdrowia (CeZ)) is a state budget unit established by the Minister of Health. The main subject of CeZ's activity is the implementation of tasks in the field of building the information society, including the organization and protection of health, and supporting management decisions of the minister competent for health on the basis of conducted analyses. Centre for e-Health is responsible for monitoring the planned, built and maintained ICT systems at the central and regional level.

Data protection
National data/privacy protection regulation and specific data access policies

The basic act of national law in Poland on the protection of personal data is The Personal Data Protection Act of May 10, 2018.  The act was adopted due to the fact that from May 25, 2018, changes in the field of personal data protection became applicable, in connection with the adoption in April 2016 by the European Parliament and the Council (EU) of the EU general regulation on the protection of personal data, i.e. the so-called GDPR. The Act adjusted the basic national provisions on the protection of personal data to the GDPR, taking into account the specificity of Polish solutions. The Act replaced the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection (GIODO) with a new supervisory authority, i.e. the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (PUODO), and the office itself was renamed the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO).

Health information infrastructure and management
Health information infrastructure and management

Health data in Poland is collected and managed by public entities operating under the Ministry of Health. These are mainly: National Health Fund (NFZ), National Institute of Public Health (NIZP-PZH), Centre for e-Health (CeZ). Certain types of data are managed and processed also by the Central Statistical Office (GUS).

The National Health Fund provides information on healthcare services to patients, including information on insurance, benefits, providers, and waiting times. It provides data for publishing of reports and comparative reviews devoted to studies on important issues.

https://ezdrowie.gov.pl/portal/home/zdrowe-dane/raporty

https://ezdrowie.gov.pl/portal/home/zdrowe-dane/zestawienia

Centre for e-Health coordinated the implementation and launching of the Medical Registers Platform https://rejestrymedyczne.ezdrowie.gov.pl/ and the document exchange system. Both of these systems enable quick exchange of electronic documents. They allow entrepreneurs and public administration units to obtain quick and easy access to registration data. The Platform includes the Electronic Archive, which enables the storage and long-term archiving of documents in electronic form. Information from a number of registers operating in the health care system is gathered in one place.

 

Within the Department of Analyses and Strategy of the Ministry of Health specific health data coming from different sources have been processed into the online platform (https://basiw.mz.gov.pl/) . The platform was created as part of the project Maps of health needs – Database of System and Implementation Analyses – co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund (POWER 2014-2020). Its purpose is a multi-faceted approach to the health problem in an interactive form that enables quick access to different cross-sections. The presented issues were discussed by an expert team consisting of, among others: national and regional consultants in specific fields of medicine, clinical experts, specialists in economics, organization of the health care system and public health.

Existence of a unique patient identifier or general personal identifier?
Yes
Name of identifier
Personal identification number (PESEL)
Updated on 27 April 2023

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