Activities of the state in implementing the e-health system - Do the state, doctors and patients benefit from ehealth?
Estonia’s population is aging and the share of elderly people is increasing, as fewer children are being born and people are living longer. This creates a constantly growing need for health ... and social services and patients are also becoming more and more demanding about the volume and quality of the services provided. The more extensive and systematic implementation of e-health solutions helps ... make the health system more efficient, improves people’s health via more effective prevention, raises the awareness of patients and also contributes to the more reasonable use of health resources ... ... Why state, doctors and patients do not benefit from e-Health as much as they could? ... efficient organisation of health care. As SAI Estonia found out, wide range problems started from two basic points: lack of strategic manager and unrealisitc schedule. ... The report reviews whether the objectives set to the e-Health – ambitious multiyear program of Estonian Government - have been achieved. They are: higher quality of the health service and more
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Submission of data to national databases in municipalities, towns and cities
The National Audit Office analysed the activities of the database managers following a ruling made by the Supreme Court in 2010, which stated that the public functions assigned to local authorities ... must be clearly financed from the state budget. It was also assessed whether the measures taken by database managers have been sufficient to guarantee that local authorities submit all required data ... and that these data are correct. ... ... Funds as basic factor of data processing ... The NAO of Estonia audited the activities of state agencies in the management of the database selected for the audit, to which local authorities are obliged to submit data. It was found that in most ... cases the state does not compensate the costs of data submission for local governments.
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Effectiveness of internal controls in the protection of personal data in national databases
of viewing, amending, deleting, transmitting of data, etc. These files must allow ex-post determination of who did what, why, when and using which data. In its audit the NAO focused on the functioning ... of internal controls which must ensure the accuracy and preservation of data and avoid information leaks. ... The NAO analysed seven national databases in order to find out how the legitimate use of personal data is ensured. In accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act, the agencies who run databases ... ... Basic controls analysis can fail in data protection ... Estonian SAI analyzed personal data safety. Main finding were: poor log analysis and unprotected data.
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Effectiveness of development of broadband network or high-speed internet
analysed whether the network of fibre-optical cables or the basic broadband network, which is built with European Union support and should guarantee high-speed internet connection, has helped to achieve ... The National Audit Office audited whether the state has made every effort to ensure that everyone can have unlimited access to fast internet connection by 2020. The National Audit Office also ... this goal. ... ... ... Slower broadband paid by customers ... superfast internet of over 100 Mbit/s. To achieve these goals, the state, with the help of European Union support, decided to establish a broadband network which is not further than 1.5 km from 98% of homes ... The Estonian Information Society Development Plan foresees that high-speed internet of 30 Mbit/s should be accessible to all people in Estonia by 2020 and that 60% of the population will be using ... and institutions. Private companies have not entirely met the Government's expectations. The Estonian SAI has looked for an answer: Why?
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Centralisation of support services of state authorities
Most goals of centralisation of support services were achived Centralisation of support services of state authorities has generally been successful, the quality of accounting has improved, and accounting has become more effective. The objective of saving on costs was not achieved. It would be beneficial to analyse the implementation of a similar model in local governments, i.e. concentrating the accounting services to central units in order to improve the quality of accounting and make work more effective. It would allow saving working time on doing routine accounting procedures and use this time more for financial management, which helps to use public funds better and more expediently.
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Quality of public services in information society in 2010
. A positive example is registration of a person’s place of residence, which has become considerably easier and user-friendlier than in 2007 as a result of the development of the state portal. <br/> 2007 Audit ... that the quality of public services which is required in the information society is always guaranteed. ... The National Audit Office found that irrespective of a few positive changes, the quality of provision of public services in information society has not improved significantly in comparison to 2007 ... ... The quality of public services has been improved but still isn’t good enough ... Irrespective of a few positive changes, the quality of provision of public services in information society has not improved significantly in comparison to 2007. Information about the services ... is still difficult to find on websites and people who use public services must still submit unjustified documents, proof of facts or go to administrative agencies in person.
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Management and development of IT systems in the Ministry of the Environment
. The audit revealed that the correctness and reliability of the environmental data was guaranteed to a considerable extent. The exception here is the Environmental Register, which contains considerably more ... The purpose of this audit was to assess whether the information systems in the area of government of the Ministry of the Environment (and their development) support the reliable, economical ... and sustainable collection and use of environmental information. On a broader scale the National Audit Office looked at all of the 42 environmental information systems created in the area of government ... ... Estonian environmental information system needs reforms ... Correctness and reliability of the environmental data is guaranteed to a considerable extent. However there is a need for redevelopment of environmental information systems, particularly ... by the Environmental Register.
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