The Czech Ministry of Health is taking a stand against hospitals charging excessive fees for medical imaging on outdated media formats. According to Petr Foltýn, Director of the National Center for Health Digitization, charging over 100 crowns for DVDs and CDs containing X-ray images is nonsensical, especially when most modern computers can’t even read these formats.
“We’re developing guidelines for hospitals to transition from CDs and DVDs to USB drives,” announced Foltýn, with the Health Minister’s approval. The strategy will be presented to hospital representatives by the end of the month.
The financial implications are significant – some hospitals issue about eight discs daily at 130 crowns each, resulting in hundreds of thousands of crowns annually. Meanwhile, 8GB flash drives retail for just tens of crowns. Michal Čarvaš, head of the Czech and Moravian Hospitals Association, notes that many hospitals have already abandoned CDs in favor of USB drives.
Looking ahead, the ministry plans to implement a more comprehensive solution. Starting next year, patients should be able to access their medical images through the national healthcare app EZ Karta or the new National Electronic Healthcare Portal.
For secure digital transfer, the ministry is also considering encrypted email delivery with two-factor authentication, though this solution faces some logistical challenges regarding physician workflow.