“Collection, processing and dissemination of data relevant to the statutory health-care system and to citizens’ health status fall within the mandate of the Ministry of Health’s General Directorate of Health-care Statistics (Statistics Office). ASLs [Local Health Authorities] collect data and send them to regions, which in turn, forward them to the Office.

“Specific data flows originate locally, from GPs and ASL departments. The surveillance data flow for infectious diseases, the SIMI (Sistema Informativo Malattie Infettive), collects notifications filed by doctors on cases of 47 infectious diseases. Each ASL forwards them to the Regional Public Health Agency, which warns the Ministry of Health and the National Health Council; these can notify international organizations (EU, WHO). An annual Epidemiological Bulletin collects the data by month and by location. A similar data flow exists for occupational hazards and work-related accidents.

“One of the most important databases is the national database on hospitalizations (Sistema Informativo Ospedaliero – SIO). This database is based on the Hospital Discharge Form (Scheda di Dimissione Ospedaliera – SDO), introduced in 1991, that reports all details of each hospitalization in secondary care structures, classifying diseases based on the most recent revision of the International Classification of Diseases and listing the services provided to patients. Other notable data flows are the information system on accidents and emergencies (Sistema Informativo Emergenza Sanitaria – SIES); the Register of Delivery Certificates (Certificato di Assistenza al Parto – CeDAP), which collects details on every birth in all regions (since 2008); and the data on organ donations and transplants collected by the National Centre for Transplants.”

Source: Ferré F, de Belvis AG, Valerio L, Longhi S, Lazzari A, Fattore G, Ricciardi W, Maresso A. Italy: Health System Review. Health Systems in Transition, 2014, 16(4):1–168.

“In 2016, the Digital Health Agreement was reached to manage and promote the diffusion of eHealth in a coordinated way across the country. The main priorities were the development of electronic medical records (EMRs), telemedicine systems and ICT innovations that could improve patient workflow management and experience. Following this, the Strategy for Digital Growth and Triennial Plan for Public Administration Informatics 2019-2021 was created to guide the digitalisation of the public health system. This Triennial Plan includes initiatives that will further promote the implementation of EMRs, ePrescriptions and telemedicine across regions (Ministry of Health, 2017).

“Regional uptake of EMRs still varies considerably. While no doctor had ever used EMRs in seven regions in 2019, in eight regions more than 80 % of doctors were using them (Figure 24).

“The legal framework first defined the concept of ePrescriptions for medicines and treatments in 2009, and in 2011 set out more specific technical procedures. A series of regulations then further supported the implementation of ePrescriptions. In 2017, 17 of the 20 regional health systems had more than 90 % ePrescription rates.

“In 2014, the National Guidelines for Telemedicine defined general standards to promote the development of telemedicine, but little has been done since to implement telemedicine options.”

Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2019), Italy: Country Health Profile 2019, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated Sept. 20, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.