Legal aspects of eHealth development in North Macedonia

Abstract

The article aims to provide insight into the process of developing eHealth law in North Macedonia. For this purpose, the work, firstly, analyzes the meaning of the basic terms of eHealth and eHealth law providing comparative definitions as well as custom definitions adopted by the authors, which cover the meaning of the terms used in this research. The main part of the article focuses on the chronological review of the development of eHealth through relevant legal documents and provisions, as well as the original research results of the process in practice. To be more precise, this development is presented as seen through two aspects: the prism of domestic legislation, as well as the influence of the European Union’s tendencies and regulation in the matter and the prism of the practice and the eHealth system, activities and functionalities that currently exist in the Macedonian healthcare system as seen by the general population and relevant international organizations (World Health Organization). Emphasis is placed on the legal aspects and the authors aim to determine if this aspect of eHealth has been supportive or opponent to the process of its development. An analysis of relevant legislation is presented in the article. Concluding remarks and recommendations are given in regard to the analyzed process in the Republic of North Macedonia.