The concept of a new health monitoring system in Hungary

Abstract

Background: The awareness of politicians has risen in the field of health in the recent years in Hungary. One of its reasons is the significant burden caused by the poor health conditions of the population. At the moment, stakeholders and experts do not have enough information for theplanning of proper interventions, for efficient capacity allocation and therefore, for informed decision making.Aim: The new health monitoring concept described in this paper aims to present a solution to this problem by synchronizing present data collections on health and health determinants, expanding them with continuous health surveys among children and adults as well as rearranging and harmonizing present analyzing capacities in a uniform system.In this new approach health related data would be collected not only in the healthcare sector, but, among others, also in the non-profit and for-profit sector, from the environment of individuals as well as directly from them. The paper pays special attention to continuous data collection about health behavior and health culture which can help to improve the efficiency and evaluation of interventions aiming to improve the health status of the population. Conclusions: The presented concept would establish informed decision making as regards health in Hungary by the harmonization of present data collections and by advanced technical and methodological development.