Ігор Вишневський Історії
8 September 2026, 09:00
2026-09-08
"We are already testing certain AI tools directly in medical institutions." CDTO of the Ministry of Health spoke about the difficulties of digitalization and the role of AI in the healthcare sector
When they say that the topic of digitalization of healthcare is very painful for Ukrainians, we are dealing here not only with the figurative, but also with the direct meaning of this word. After all, the paper bureaucracy of a huge and poorly managed system inherited from the Soviet Union has long caused people with very different diagnoses, including life-threatening ones, to suffer.
When they say that the topic of digitalization of healthcare is very painful for Ukrainians, we are dealing here not only with the figurative, but also with the direct meaning of this word. After all, the paper bureaucracy of a huge and poorly managed system inherited from the Soviet Union has long caused people with very different diagnoses, including life-threatening ones, to suffer.
However, recent reforms and digitalization are slowly but steadily changing the state of affairs — and the CDTO of the Ministry of Health, Maria Karchevych, told us exactly how. We asked the Deputy Minister for Digital Development about the key digital projects of the Ministry of Health, blockers of digital transformation in this area and procedures that show stubborn resistance to «digital», the use of AI in the work of the ministry and its subordinate structures, the problems of cyber defense, as well as her personal motivation for the position. All this is discussed in an interview with Maria Karchevych, which is published as part of our series of materials about the work of the CDTO.
— The position of CDTO is relatively new for government agencies. What was your personal motivation to work in this role?
— The Ukrainian digital healthcare system is currently one of the most developed systems in Europe. It unites millions of Ukrainians, hundreds of thousands of medical professionals, and tens of thousands of healthcare institutions. Joining the development of a project of this scale, proving in practice the possibility of implementing ideas that seem complex, was and remains a key motivating factor for me.
We are not just digitizing processes in the healthcare system, ensuring transparency and creating services for Ukrainians. In many areas, thanks to digitalization, we are changing approaches to providing services, even in the most difficult conditions, such as a pandemic, war, or blackouts. We have built a system that demonstrates resilience to challenges, while at the same time being able to develop and integrate into the global space.
— What key digital projects/services/products are being implemented with your direct participation? What is their functionality?
— Digitalization in healthcare is a multi-vector process. The key goal is to make medical care for Ukrainians more accessible and of higher quality. And we are gradually moving towards it, introducing digital solutions in various directions.
For example, accounting for medical services provided to patients, their payment, and monitoring is carried out using the electronic healthcare system, which is today one of the largest government systems in our country.
This system has already accumulated 6 billion medical records about the health of almost 35 million Ukrainians.
It includes a patient’s office, declarations with a doctor, medical records, treatment plans, electronic referrals and prescriptions, various types of medical reports, accounting for rehabilitation interventions, an immunization module, etc.
In addition, last year, one of the large-scale reforms was carried out — the outdated medical expert commissions were eliminated and a digital system for assessing daily functioning was introduced, where the entire process from referring a person for assessment to making a decision takes place in an electronic system. To date, expert assessment teams have already made almost 1 million decisions.
The speed of the assessment process for a person has decreased significantly — now the path from electronic submission of documents to receiving a decision takes an average of less than 15 days. Whereas previously, a case could be considered for months.
Also, for the second year in a row, the distribution of medical school graduates was carried out using an electronic rating system. According to clear rules and absolutely transparently. The system ensures equal access of future doctors to internships, based on their performance indicators for all years of study. This year, 95% of the more than 2,500 future doctors who participated in the distribution received the desired internship places in the first stage.
An electronic queue for endoprosthetics has been launched, and doctors have already performed 26,000 free joint replacement surgeries on Ukrainians who were on the queue. This medical service has become more accessible to people.
Since last year, an electronic notification system for cosmetic products has been in place, which increases the level of transparency in the cosmetics market.
Other new registers have also appeared, for example, the medical practice license register. We already have the first license issued based on an online application submitted through the license register — it was received by a young female sole proprietor from Cherkasy region.
— Please name three factors that, in your opinion, are hindering digitalization in your field of work?
— We have several challenges that need to be addressed and taken into account to ensure sustainable development and reliable functioning of the digital system. In particular, we pay constant attention to issues of cybersecurity and data protection, their quality. And this is not always convenient for users.
Another challenge is the need to ensure stable operation in conditions of rapid growth in the number of users and data volumes. An equally important area is the adaptation of medical workers to new tools and processes, in particular, taking into account the current workload on them. And, of course, we understand that there may be different levels of digital skills and the state of material and technical support of institutions in the field.
But the last aspect I want to mention is the need to constantly adapt the plan to the challenges of war, blackouts, etc.
— What services or procedures in your field still remain completely paper-based and create the most problems? What exactly is holding them back from transitioning to «digital»?
— This is medical statistics. Current approaches are outdated and do not meet modern requirements, and moreover, they create an additional burden on medical institutions. We are talking about dozens of reporting forms. At the same time, the process of collecting and entering data is partially duplicated in paper and electronic documentation. Although most of the data is already in digital form.
We have begun reform and our goal is to build a holistic, integrated, methodologically consistent system of medical statistics that will comply with international approaches. This is a large and difficult process.
But it will definitely yield fruitful results and reduce bureaucracy in the field.
— Do you use artificial intelligence or automatic data analysis tools in the work of your ministry? What kind of solution is this? How do you control the risks of algorithm errors?
— We are currently working on approaches to using AI in medicine, taking into account international practices.
We are preparing regulatory regulation and launching the MedTech Sandbox for testing and scaling innovations.
We are also already testing certain AI tools directly in medical institutions — in real work processes and according to the needs of doctors. Of course, we also have solutions that are used to support the operation of the systems.
Interestingly, we recently conducted a survey on the use of AI technologies in healthcare to find out the expectations and visions of doctors, patients, and business representatives.
But the main thing to say is that the decision regarding patient treatment always remains with the healthcare professional, and artificial intelligence can be a tool to support clinical decision-making, not a replacement.
— How do you solve the problem of personnel shortage in the public sector for IT specialists, given the difference in salaries of IT specialists in the private and public sectors?
— We understand that it is difficult for the public sector to compete with the private sector for IT specialists solely on the basis of salary, and we do not try to do so.
We motivate specialists with the opportunities and experience they will gain while working and developing large digital systems and state registries on a national scale. This is valuable experience, gaining which significantly improves a specialist’s professional level.
— In the face of constant cyberattacks from the Russian Federation, do you pay attention to protecting your department’s registers, information systems, and electronic documentation? What efforts are being made in this regard?
— Yes, data protection and strengthening the security of digital resources were and are a top priority.
In particular, we are currently working in the following areas: we continue to conduct training and large-scale phishing simulations to assess user behavioral factors. In addition, technical measures are being implemented, and regular security and vulnerability testing is being conducted.
We are preparing to launch the Industry Cybersecurity Center for the entire healthcare sector.
These are technical and organizational solutions to enable real-time notification of cyber incidents, monitoring, forecasting and taking certain preventive measures. So, various institutions are currently being connected to the cyber center, about 1,000 key institutions will be connected in total. And thus, we will be able to manage digital events more efficiently.
— What are the three main tasks you set for yourself in the digitalization of your sector of activity?
— One of the key tasks is the integration of the Ukrainian electronic health system into the European digital space. We are currently actively preparing for this and are already implementing a pilot project on data exchange with Estonia. This is a complex process that includes not only technical integration, but also the harmonization of the regulatory framework. And it will be critically important for the implementation of cross-border medicine after Ukraine joins the EU.
The second is what I already mentioned — the reform of medical statistics and the abolition of several dozen paper reporting forms, the transition to using exclusively digital data.
The third is the expansion of the patient’s office and services for patients. We are already preparing a technical specification for patient access to their electronic medical record, which is stored centrally and independently of the institution where the person is being served.
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