“For the first time in years, we are seeing the development of rehabilitation services in Russia,” the Minister of Healthcare and Social Development said at a national doctors’ conference in Chuvashia.
“I would like to comment on the excellent choice of a venue for this conference,” she said. “We have visited several local healthcare centres. They are living examples of the government initiative to modernise the national healthcare system. Here in Chuvashia they have actually build a three-tier rehabilitation system which includes inpatient and outpatient components, as well as a system of high-tech medical services for children and adults. An effective rehabilitation and treatment resort cluster complements the three-tier rehabilitation system.”
According to the Minister, rehabilitation includes all types of medical services except preventive treatment. All of these services are aimed at restoring a malfunctioning system to heath. This process comprises several stages, from intensive care all the way through final rehabilitation at outpatient clinics and treatment resorts. “Therefore, it is highly important to ensure the consistency and continuity of efforts made at the various stages,” Ms Skvortsova noted. “The immediate solution would be to build a single database for the healthcare industry, to store digital patient records. It is good to see that Chuvashia already has this.”
Under the new federal law On the Foundations of Healthcare, rehabilitation treatment is now included in the system of state guarantees for the first time, the Minister noted. The approved standards for healthcare services for all types of diseases now include a rehabilitation stage. Experts have developed standard procedures for rehabilitation treatment.
Now it is our task to develop several innovative types of rehabilitation treatment including cell tissue technology, robotic technology, brain-computer interfaces (direct communication pathways between the brain and an external device) and various cognitive technologies, she added.
During the conference, Skvortsova handed honorary certificates of the Healthcare Ministry to Viktor Shklovsky and David Aronov, the founders of the Russian medical rehabilitation school, for their long and dedicated service to the national healthcare.
