Digital healthcare in the Czech Republic
Key figures
10.5 M
inhabitants
7.8 %
of GDP earmarked for healthcare spending in 2019
7
public health insurance funds
The State supports advances in medical technology to ensure the sustainability of its healthcare system
- The organization and financing of the healthcare system is based on compulsory health insurance. There are seven public health insurance funds, including the general health insurance fund (VZP) which insures 56% of the population. All Czech citizens benefit from a wide range of care directly reimbursed by national health insurance.
- The Ministry of Health defines healthcare policy. It oversees and works closely with its subsidiary bodies: the National Institute of Public Health, l'Institut d'information et de statistiques sanitaires, l'Institut national du contrôle des médicaments and various regional public health authorities.
The government's multi-year e-health strategy 2016-2026 supports the digitalization of the healthcare system
- The government has drawn up a multi-year national digital health strategy from 2016 to 2026, with the aim of improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare in the country and has created a national digital health center.
- Eprescription has become mandatory and a shared pharmaceutical record has been made available to citizens. An electronic citizen identification system is used to administer ePrescriptions, COVID-19 tests and vaccination certificates. A national health information portal - Národní zdravotnický informační portál (nzip) includes a directory of healthcare professionals.
How do I access the Czech market?
1. Perform a clinical assessment (optional)
It is common for entrepreneurs to work with contract research organizations (CROs) to conduct clinical investigations on digital medical devices if these cannot be carried out in-house. These cooperations could help to accelerate the processing of authorization applications, to conduct clinical investigations for the development of new digital health solutions. A-Pharma and Cepha are the country's leading companies.
Click here for more information on clinical evaluations through CROs.
2. Register the medical device with the National Institute for the Control of Medicines.
The National Institute for Drug Control registers and verifies manufacturers, importers, distributors and entities that supply medical devices. A public administration information system is available online, designed to collect data on medical devices placed on the market.
3. Submit an application for reimbursement of the device to the VZP's Department of Medical Devices (ODZP).
There are different methods for obtaining reimbursement for a medical device. However, if the device is to be reimbursed by the public insurance fund, you must submit your request to the general health insurance company (VZP), which carries out all assessments and authorizes reimbursements. To validate your claim, you must submit different documents to the medical devices department.
Government authorities
In charge of health product evaluation and legislation
Public health insurance companies
These seven insurance companies are responsible for financing health services
.Support and innovation initiatives
They bring together and facilitate the incubation of new technologies
.Training centers and universities
Universities and their groups that train and support digital innovations
in healthcare
Test and experimentation structure (TEF)
The University of Brno is one of the European partners in TEF-Health, which aims to enable large-scale testing of artificial intelligence software and robots in realistic environments
.