Family doctors' practices in Latvia continue to face problems when working with the electronic health system. In particular, since the beginning of August, doctors have been unable to register vaccination data in the system, resulting in incomplete information about patients' vaccinations, and the doctors themselves are not receiving payment for the services provided, writes Diena. As reported at a meeting of the Saeima subcommittee on public health, the Ministry of Health cannot yet specify the timeline for resolving the issue, but it admits that unspent funds from the sector may be used for system modernization. This year, €175.5 million has been allocated for financing family doctors. In the first half of the year, €106 million was utilized. According to the ministry, there is an overspend in the screening program, while savings have been made, in particular, on financing a third employee in family doctors' practices. Ministry representative Sanita Janka explained that the additional expenses are primarily related to payments for achieving screening performance indicators. However, several planned indicators have not yet been met, including the establishment of new practices, the volume of paid medical procedures, and the recruitment of a third worker. The ministry also reminded that this year family doctors began receiving additional funding for work in rural and remote areas. In 2027, the Ministry of Health plans to expand the list of paid services for family doctors. It is proposed to include express tests for cholesterol, troponin, and C-reactive protein, as well as to revise the amount of capitation funding considering care for elderly patients, home visits, and personnel expenses. At the same time, expenses for the digitalization of the health system continue to grow. The chairwoman of the Saeima subcommittee on public health, Liga Kozlovska, expressed doubt that the existing electronic health system will be able to fully replace the local programs used by doctors. According to her, many necessary functions are still missing in the electronic system, including comprehensive patient medical history management. Furthermore, the inability to register vaccinations means that the state does not have complete information about the vaccination coverage of the population, and family doctors do not receive the payments due for the work performed.
