Hungary: Health Information and Communications Technologies

“Telemedicine use in Hungary is governed by law created for the state of emergency during the COVID-19 epidemic. State of emergency rules governing teleconsultations came into force on April 30, 2020 when the government issued Government Decree no. 157/2020 (IV. 29.) known as the Telemedicine Decree.¹² Healthcare facilities were obliged to be equipped to provide teleconsultations. They had to have a protocol and patient information material for it. The decree defined the criteria of teleconsultations as well as the aims it must serve. It permitted using telemedicine to set up diagnoses, suggest therapy, consult, manage and direct patients, give referrals, and prescribe medication. The following telemedicine interventions were reimbursed by the National Health Fund: control examination, consultation, electroencephalogram with telemetric, electrocardiogram (ECG) with telemetric, transtelephonic ECG use in acute cardiac cases, transtelephonic ECG in postoperative cardiac cases, transtelephonic ECG in elective cases, transtelephonic ECG in postoperative cardiac cases during emergency interventions, the preparation, and sending of samples sent by telepathology in colorectal screening, the evaluation of samples sent by telepathology in colorectal screening, supplementary points for second opinion during colorectal screening, dental teleradiology, pain monitoring and its computerised evaluation, documented psychiatric consultation on the telephone.

“Very much related to this is the 33/2020 Decree of the Ministry of Human Resources (IX.16) on Telemedicine and Teleconsultations.¹⁴ The decree stated that the healthcare provider must possess the following to be allowed to provide telemedicine services: information technology (IT) equipment needed for the service provision, medical equipment needed for the provision, detailed telemedicine use guidelines and patient information sheets, broadband, stable internet and virus protection. The decree also established what telemedicine interventions could be reimbursed.”

Source: Döbrössy, B., Girasek, E., Győrffy, Z. The Adaptation of Digital Health Solutions During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hungary: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 2024; 13(1): 1-9. doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.7940.

“Based on their current digital habits, the population of Hungary is ready to upscale their use of digital health technologies. As of January, 2021, 83% of the population were internet users and 73.5% were active social media users.²³

“The Eurostat regional Yearbook 2021 reports a significant regional divide in internet use in Hungary. While daily internet use among 16-74 year olds is 89% in Budapest, it is only 72% in the northern region of Hungary.²⁴

“Internet availability is only one precondition of digital health application. People must have the skills and confidence to operate the system, ie, they need digital health literacy.

“There is evidence that the internet is an important source of health-related information for many in Hungary. Indeed, according Girasek and colleagues’ research done on a representative, large sample, 81.3% of the respondents reported using the Internet in general, with almost 90% of them also using it for health and illness related issues. This means that the frequency of health-related internet searches is very high. Nearly half of those surveyed would try a teleconsultation and would like to be recommended reliable websites, apps and sensors by their doctor.²⁵

“According to the 2021 DESI, Hungary performs well in 5G readiness, overall fixed broadband take-up and 100 Mbps take-up.²⁶ 89% of households had fast broadband in Hungary. Connection speeds were very good, 56% of homes had at least 100 Mbps fixed broadband compared to the EU average of 34%. Hungary scored low on Human capital. Only 49% of the population had at least basic level digital skills compared to the EU average of 56%.”

“Prior to 2021 Hungary had no national digital health strategy. Digital healthcare was expected to operate in a fragmented and incomplete legal environment. Although the technology needed was present, the legislation on how it may be used and what could be financed was lacking. COVID-19 created conditions in which social contact had to be limited as much as possible. Education, work, commerce, religious services, schools as well as healthcare provision had to go online as much as possible. ‘Tele-solutions’ like online teaching, home office in work and telehealth-teleconsultations were needed to deal with the situation.”

“In April 2020, the government issued a decree allowing doctors to provide health care services online. This was intended to maintain levels of patient care while minimising the risk of infection.

“Data on the use of telehealth services during the pandemic indicate high levels of uptake – in particular for prescriptions. Between the start of the pandemic and February/March 2021, 71% of people in Hungary accessed a doctor online or by telephone for prescription purposes, which was higher than the 53% recorded by the EU as a whole. The number of teleconsultations increased markedly over a similar period, too.”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2021), Hungary: Country Health Profile 2021, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.

Hungary: Health Information and Communications Technologies - Healthcare - National Policies - World Health Systems Facts

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Page last updated February 21, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.