Launched in 2004 by Philippe Douste-Blazy at the time Minister of Health, the shared medical file (DMP) is now a concrete tool. This Monday, October 5, his successor Agnès Buzyn invited, in the show Public hearing (LCP/Public Senate/Le Figaro/AFP), all French people to open a DPM on the Internet, from their pharmacist or from health insurance fund agents. According to the current Minister of Health, the rationalization of care should lead to considerable savings in time and money. “Before being a tool for savings, it is above all a tool for sharing information to make the best medicine, it is the safety of care”, she nevertheless clarified. But what is this famous shared and digital medical record?
A digital health record
The DMP simply takes the patient’s health record, but in a computerized way. The objective is for all health professionals to be able to access their information, which includes the history of care that the person has received over the last 24 months, their medical history (hospitalizations, pathologies, allergies), their test results (analytical laboratory, imagery), his treatments in progress or the contact details of his relatives to be notified in the event of an emergency. All this data thus constitutes a medical profile “free, confidential and secure”explains Health Insurance, which is piloting the new version of the project.
The patient remains free to choose which of the doctors, specialists or other medical personnel will be able to access his file. He can also add or hide certain documents. The primary purpose of the DMP, however, remains to better coordinate care and promote cooperation between health professionals, to avoid unnecessary duplication of examinations and prescriptions, or avoid dangerous drug interactions. Only the attending physician will have access to all the information, to offer the most appropriate treatments. Thus, the Health Insurance particularly recommends people with chronic pathologies and pregnant women to use this system.
40 million DMP within 5 years
Since 2016, the DMP has already been tested in nine departments (Bas-Rhin, Somme, Indre-et-Loire, Haute-Garonne, Val-de-Marne, Côtes d’Armor, Puy- de-Dôme, Doubs and Pyrénées-Atlantiques). In 18 months and up to May 2018, more than 550,000 online health records have been created. According to Health Insurance, more than 1.2 million were even open at the start of the summer, adding those from the previous decade. Now that the system is deployed throughout the territory, an agreement between Health Insurance and the National Union of Health Professionals (UNPS) sets the target at 40 million open DMPs within 5 years. In 2013, 83% of French people questioned said they were in favor of its principle, according to a BVA survey for 01net and BFM Business.
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