People who navigate to the former www.digilugu.ee site will be automatically redirected to the new Health Portal.

"Because the Patient Portal (patsiendiportaal) is now over 15 years old and sports some technological backlog, switching to a new portal is necessary as access to health data must keep up with the times," said Kady Adamson, Patient Portal project lead at the Health and Welfare Information Systems Center (TEHIK).

The Health Insurance Fund's project lead Evgeni Nikolaevski said that the portal offers convenient access to health data and functions as a gateway to health services.

In the first stage, the Health Portal will offer people the same services the Patient Portal did but in a more convenient format where topics are categorized more logically, he explained.

The user is first taken to the "My dashboard" view that shows upcoming appointments, unfilled prescriptions, the last six months' test results and appointments, as well as vaccination recommendations. As a new function, users can access "My health history" where they can search and filter for past appointments, test results, vaccinations, but also information concerning trips to the ER, hospitalizations or surgeries. Several other minor adjustments have been made to how services are accessed.

In addition to applying for health certificates, the portal will soon allow users to fill in their own and loved ones' medical information and fill out pre-appointment forms.

The National eBooking System (digiregistratuur) will be made an integral part of the Health Portal in 2024. This will make it easier to book, change or cancel appointments, the Health Insurance Fund said.

Over time, new IT solutions will be added to the Health Portal that will boost users' participation and responsibility in health-related decisions. "Among things users want to see the most is the possibility to be notified of prescriptions, vaccinations and doctor's appointments. The services will be added in 2024 after which people will be notified via SMS or email," Evgeni Nikolaevski said.

"It has been a priority for us to make sure the portal would not have to be replaced again in a decade's time and could be complemented and new functionality added regularly," Kady Adamson explained.

The Health Portal development received co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund, with the total cost coming to €1.24 million.

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