Poland’s new Electronic Card of Cardiological Care (e-KOK) will streamline treatment and consolidate patient data nationwide.
New Regulation for Cardiological Care
A draft regulation has been submitted for consultations, which will change how cardiological treatment is organized across the entire country if enacted.
The Electronic Card of Cardiological Care (e-KOK) is being implemented as part of the National Cardiological Network (KSK), which aims to monitor the quality of care for patients with cardiovascular diseases.
Benefits for Heart Patients
Most importantly, the e-KOK will replace some paper documentation. When a patient visits another healthcare center, the doctor will see their complete medical history in one place.
Patients will no longer need to repeat their medical history at every visit. The card will include detailed clinical data – from blood pressure and saturation to dyspnea scales and exercise tolerance. It will also contain information about medications, allergies, previous surgeries, and specialized programs the patient is enrolled in.
This means fewer repeated tests and reduced risk of errors. The system will track whether patients have been referred to rehabilitation and if they attended their follow-up appointments after hospital discharge.
Comprehensive Data Collection
The e-KOK will include not only medical parameters but also factors affecting treatment effectiveness, such as lifestyle and social support. This is a new approach as the system will cover both medical data and factors influencing treatment outcomes.
Purpose Behind the Initiative
The Ministry of Health states that currently, there is no possibility to conduct ongoing, nationwide analysis of the quality of cardiological care based on uniform data.
The goal is to compare treatment outcomes between centers, publish annual quality reports, detect diagnostic delays, and reduce premature mortality. This means e-KOK will serve as both a clinical and analytical tool.
Impact on Healthcare Providers
For healthcare providers, this represents a significant organizational change. Each center providing cardiological care within the KSK will be required to implement the e-KOK system and transfer patient data.
The system will enable the generation of standardized annual quality care reports.
Data Security and Implementation Timeline
The project envisages real-time information transfer, meaning the system will be continuously updated. Data protection issues were analyzed during the work on the Act on the National Cardiological Network, and this regulation does not introduce separate rules in this regard.
The regulation is set to take effect 14 days after its announcement, which means the system could be quickly implemented after the legislative process concludes. In subsequent years, e-KOK will become a mandatory component of the National Cardiological Network’s operation.