HAKOM's Support Programme for the Development of Broadband Internet Access: Two New Applications Submitted to the Target Users

Applications such as "e -Physical therapy at home/ e Home care" and "e Diagnostic and support to the children with communication difficulties," have been delivered to the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance (HZZO) and Education and Rehabilitation Centre that will manage the subject applications. Both applications enable bigger efficiency and reduce the administrative activities while the end users will have significant benefits from its applications.
 

ZAGREB, December 22, 2015. Within HAKOM's Programme of the Internet and broadband development in the areas of special state concern, hilly and mountainous areas and islands, the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) has delivered three application solutions to the target users such as the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) and Education and Rehabilitation Centre, who, from now on , will be in charge of the subject applications.

Let us recall, the development of the above-mentioned applications started by adopting the preliminary designs submitted within the second and third public invitation for the submission of the preliminary designs for making socially useful application from HAKOM’s Internet and Broadband Development Programme .After further development of the ideas and definition of the technical documentation the public tender for the application development was carried out and after the software part of the project is completed it will only be necessary to put system into the operating mode.

The Application solution named e Physical therapy at home / e Home care creates a precondition for the integration of IT systems for at home nursing care and physical therapy at home, into a single central system. In this manner the workers in these two sectors (Institution for the Provision of At Home Nursing care and Institution for Physical Therapy at Home) would have access to data about the patient, conditions would be created for quality keeping of records and medical information would be shared with other users of the system, which eventually reduces the operating costs of these activities. Regarding the users it will no longer be needed to share "paper documents" which often involved patient, patient's family or their guardian as media transportation. Patients from the rural areas and islands are facing this problem.

The second delivered application solution is “eDiagnostics and support for children with communication difficulties. Health and education network cover the entire Croatian territory, while social services such as psychological service, speech /language therapy or rehabilitation service are something completely different. For example, there are counties or areas in the counties where the services have not been developed sufficiently and as such do not meet the requirements of the residents. In fact, non-timely or late diagnosis of the difficulties has a direct negative effect on the development, social inclusion and the quality of life of both a child and the entire family.

The (too) late recognized difficulties on the economic level imply higher costs for society, while on the human level it results in poor developmental outcome for children and a reduced quality of life of children and families. ˝e Diagnostic services and support for children with communication difficulties (eDD) ˝ aims to enable an early detection of communication difficulties in children in terms of enabling the diagnostics to the professional associates in kindergartens and schools, paediatricians and family physicians as well as providing insight into the basic support strategies.

However these are last applications among 35apps in total, contracted on the basis of previously conducted public tender from HAKOM's Programme for Internet and Broadband Development in the Areas of Special State Concern, Hilly and Mountainous Areas and Islands.

ABOUT HAKOM: HAKOM (www.hakom.hr) - Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries – ensures preconditions for a fair market competition, stable growth and environment for innovations in the electronic communications and postal services market. HAKOM protects users’ interests and the possibility of choice among various communications and postal services at affordable prices, defines sustainable competitive conditions for operators and service providers under fair conditions for return on investment, and provides support to economic growth, public services and the quality of life in the Republic of Croatia by using modern technologies. HAKOM’ strategic goals are: to promote regulation of the electronic communications and postal services market, to support growth of investments and innovations in the electronic communications and postal services market, to provide efficient use of limited resources, to accelerate the growth of broadband products and services, to provide affordable offers of communications and postal services, to provide protection and informing of users, to build an efficient and comprehensive information system, to define and implement efficient processes, and to acquire multi-disciplinary competencies in market regulation.