Poland has made great progess in the digitization of healthcare, with e-leaves and e-prescriptions being prime examples. However, there are many areas that still require joint work by legislators, medical institutions and technology partners. Krzysztof Groyecki, Vice President of the Management Board of Asseco Poland, responsible for the area of solutions for the healthcare sector, points out the most important trends and challenges in digitization.

1. Accelerating the implementation of EDM - as of January 1 of this year, the financing of services by the National Health Fund (NFZ), in the area of Primary Medical Care (POZ), will depend on the reporting of medical events to the P1 platform and, as a result, the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMD). According to the Health Ministry's announcement, the P1 platform is expected to become the exclusive source of data for billing healthcare services in the coming years. Not all facilities are fully ready for this and need the support of technology partners to help them implement the right tools. On the other hand, as Krzysztof Groyecki, Vice President of the Management Board of Asseco Poland, argues, it is also necessary to expand the EDM project itself. Ultimately, a patient's complete electronic medical record is to be available to all authorized specialists throughout Poland, regardless of where the patient is at any given time. At present, the EDM contains only part of the information and does not include, for example, medical history, as there is no precise definition of what this document covers. It is important to introduce both legislative changes and programs to encourage medical facilities to implement modern technologies.

2. Improving the ergonomics of applications for staff – up until now, most applications have been created with the aim of managing medical entities, supporting the internal processes of healthcare providers, as well as reporting and billing benefits. Meanwhile, as Krzysztof Groyecki emphasizes, these solutions should first and foremost be an effective tool in the hands of staff. "We want our applications to reduce the time and improve the quality of patient service. An example of a solution that plays just such a role are medical dashboards for doctors and nurses. Asseco's software includes pathways that allow the user to easily obtain the information necessary at a given stage of treatment."

3. Specialization of medical software - employees of different specialties working in particular areas of medical entities have their own specific needs, which are worth taking into account when creating technological solutions. According to Krzysztof Groyecki, functions of IT systems that are relevant to doctors and nurses should be available without the need to search for them among a large number of other software options. "Many of Asseco's solutions for the healthcare sector are tailor-made. We talk to representatives of individual facilities to learn about their needs and what information they would like to process digitally," Krzysztof Groyecki explains.

4. Cloud security - healthcare facilities are an extremely tempting target for cyber criminals, so it is extremely important to ensure the security of digital, sensitive medical data. It is difficult for individual hospitals or clinics to take care of the appropriate level of cyber security on their own, due to staff and budget shortages. As Krzysztof Groyecki of Asseco argues, the natural direction is to migrate to the cloud. Then its operator takes care of information security, ongoing monitoring of threats, as well as backup. An example of a solution used in Polish medical facilities is EDM in the cloud. It enables remote and secure access to data, facilitates compliance with regulations imposed on healthcare units, and eliminates the need to expand and maintain one's own infrastructure.

5. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help shorten queues to specialists - a sore point in Polish health care is the long waiting time to see a specialist. According to the Watch Health Care Foundation's (WHC) Barometer, in November 2022, it averaged about four months. Artificial intelligence can help solve this problem; while it certainly won't fix staffing shortages, it can support doctors in their daily work. There are many examples of AI use in healthcare, from digital assistants that are able to give prompts based on collected survey information, to systems that support diagnosis based on the recognition of X-ray or MRI images. As the vice president of Asseco points out, the development of telemedicine will depend on the profitability of such solutions. "If it is higher than that of stationary services, and in addition, telemedicine procedures will increasingly become part of products billed by the National Health Fund (NFZ), one can hope that this will contribute to reducing the negative effects of staff shortages," Krzysztof Groyecki concludes.

The annual survey of investor relations of companies in the WIG30 index has been launched - this is the ninth edition organized by "Parkiet" and the Chamber of Brokerage Houses (IDM).

The companies with the best communication with the market will be selected in two parts of the survey by:

• Individual investors' and readers' ratings awarded through a survey on the "Parkiet" website,
• A survey addressed to representatives of financial institutions.

The awards for the best IR will be presented on March 2 at this year's conference of the Chamber of Brokerage Houses.

In the last year's ranking, Asseco was listed 3rd in the section conducted among institutional investors and analysts, and 4th in the section dedicated to individual investors.

Related links:

Information about "Parkiet" ranking

The number of cyber attacks increased by an average of 25% year-on-year, according to data from ComCERT of the Asseco Group. Security investment was on average one-third higher in most organizations. Experts emphasize that the situation in the previous year was affected by the war in Ukraine. As many as 85% of attacks came from outside, while 15% were internal threats. More than half of the attacks were undertaken by organized crime groups. Phishing and DDoS were the most common threats in 2022, together accounting for more than 80% of all cyber incidents.

ComCERT experts from the Asseco Group predict that the new year will be equally challenging at best. The war in Ukraine or the development of attackers’ competence and technology are just a few of the challenges that security specialists will have to face. They will be supported in the fight against threats by Artificial Intelligence (AI), which, however, is also being used successfully by cybercriminals. In response to the growing number of attacks, EU authorities are working on a regulation concerning the digital resilience of critical infrastructure.

The most important trends in the area of cyber security according to experts from ComCERT of the Asseco Group.

1. Economic uncertainty will make it harder to fight cyber threats

In the new year, the fight against cyber threats will be extremely difficult. According to Krzysztof Dyki, president of ComCERT of the Asseco Group, there will be more attempted attacks, which has to do with the economic slowdown (investment restrictions causing greater risks) and the war in Ukraine. The expert emphasises that since the beginning of the outbreak of the armed conflict, cybercriminals have particularly often taken government institutions and critical infrastructure as targets, but they have not spared business either. The CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) and other security leaders should include in their plans, also financial ones, resources for threat intelligence activities to prevent current threats.

2. More cryptocurrency scams to come

The collapse of the FTX exchange in November affected the entire cryptocurrency market. Many investors came under pressure due to the uncertainty of what happened to their money. Cybercriminals carrying out fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions see their opportunity in the biggest crisis in more than a decade. Krzysztof Dyki of the Asseco Group predicts an increase in their activity in the coming year. In addition, accelerating inflation and rising interest rates, as well as the economic slowdown, will contribute to more cryptocurrency fraud. This is because in such conditions more people are looking for favorable financial offers and often lose vigilance.

3. Growing security in the financial sector

Not only the cryptocurrency market, but the entire financial industry is an attractive target for cybercriminals. Not surprisingly, the EU authorities are working on regulations to strengthen the security of organizations such as banks, insurance companies and investment funds. The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) will introduce uniform requirements for the cyber security of networks and information systems of organizations operating in the financial sector. The changes will also extend to third parties providing IT-related services to them, such as cloud and business analytics. The member states will have to implement a national strategy to increase the resilience of critical entities, and will have to conduct a risk assessment at least once every four years. If the regulation is completed as early as 2023, covered entities will have to comply with the new requirements. Depending on the current state of cyber security systems, potential investments could significantly absorb both the IT team's time and put a strain on the organization's budget.

4. Artificial intelligence (AI) - a weapon of both sides

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have made a significant contribution to increasing the level of cyber security. These technologies play an important role in building systems responsible for detecting threats. The use of AI in the process of analyzing the security of code and software behavior allows to automate many activities and see how the operation of a particular application affects the entire organization. Unfortunately, Artificial Intelligence is also an effective weapon in the hands of cybercriminals. They use fictitious entities to purchase solutions based on it, or hack into the systems of legitimate organizations. They then take control of AI solutions and use them to test the capabilities of the malware they plan to exploit.

Meet with experts and learn how to safely make a digital transformation

How can technology be used to address today's economic challenges, including rising energy prices, disrupted supply chains and a shortage of skilled workers? How does technology enhance transaction security in the digital economy? Listen to speakers, debates and the latest case studies and learn how to effectively optimize and automate business processes in your organization. On May 23, 2023, we will meet you in Warsaw and online at the Trusted Economy Forum, one of Europe's largest conferences on the digital economy. The event will be held under the slogan "On the edge - the new reality in the digital world". Save the date now to meet the global digital market experts!

Trust in a digital world

Today it is hard to imagine doing business without digital tools. We use electronic signatures and seals as well as cloud-based document management platforms increasingly more frequently. They strengthen the level of trust in business processes, allowing us to cooperate online with contractors, serve customers from all over the world or manage a distributed team remotely.

At a time when technology so powerfully changes business models and shapes everyday life, the greatest value remains trust, both between participants in the economic ecosystem and in the technology itself – one that is uniform, secure and universal, said Ewelina Chudy, Head of the Organizing Office of the Trusted Economy Forum. With the key role of trust in the digital economy in mind, Asseco is inviting you to discuss #TrustedEconomy. Our experts will also present the practical side of digital transformation and examples of companies and institutions that have successfully implemented these solutions, she added.

Customers choose online solutions

Without trust, there would be no success of e-commerce, e-banking and many other industries where digitization has eliminated the need for a physical presence. In the financial sector, for example, the number of mobile banking users grew from 15 million to 18 million in one year, and in online banking that figure increased from 20 million to 21.7 million. Physical or geographic boundaries no longer matter - what is key is the availability of online services anytime, on any device and for any group of users.

On the brink of challenges and threats

The greater the share of digitization in customer, business and government relations, the more the importance of cyber security to guarantee trust with the other side of the transaction increases. The challenge of today's business is to skillfully navigate the edges of the challenges and risks, as well as the opportunities and benefits of the economy’s digitization. The role of technology partners providing proven digital services is to ensure that trust backed by cyber-security remains a driver of the digital economy.

About the conference

The idea of the Trusted Economy Forum is to integrate the technological, business, legal, administrative and academic communities, with the aim of building digital societies, not only at the national level, but also globally. The conference is a space for discussion, exchange of views and experiences. Last year's edition was attended by more than 40 experts, and nearly 630 people registered for the event.

Learn more at: https://trustedeconomyforum.com/pl/ and save your date on May 23

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Asseco is once again the highest ranked company in the "IT, telecommunications, new media" category in the "List of 2000" ranking prepared by the editors of the "Rzeczpospolita" daily. The list is compiled on the basis of companies' results. Asseco's sales in 2021 reached a record PLN 14.5 billion.

Last year, sales of Asseco's proprietary products and services totaled PLN 11.3 billion, and consolidated operating profit reached PLN 1.5 billion.

Since we started as a small technology company, which today we would call a startup, we have steadily focused on what matters most to us - software for most sectors of the economy. A clear vision of development, strategy and consistency in action have made the Polish company extremely successful around the world, and in such an innovative field as IT. We would like to thank the customers who trusted us at the beginning and have been with us ever since, and all those who have joined us in more than 30 years of our activity," said Artur Wiza, Vice President of Asseco Poland. This distinction and the position as a leader in the ITC sector is a great credit to all Group employees who are involved in the development of Asseco on a daily basis and support the activities of our customers," he added.

According to the Health Ministry, in 2023, outlays for health care are planned at PLN 157.3 billion, or 6 percent of GDP. Some of these funds will be used to implement digital tools. They facilitate the work of medical personnel, improve the management of facilities, and improve access to services. In Poland, many health care units have already successfully undergone a digital transformation. One of them is the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration's Health Resort in Sopot, which for the past year has been using cloud solutions provided by Krajowy Operator Chmury Medycznej (Chmura dla zdrowia) - a company established by Asseco Poland and Chmura Krajowa.

A huge problem in the Polish health care is long queues to spas. Waiting time for spa treatment is several months - or even several years at some facilities. Complications from COVID-19 have increased the number of people willing to continue inpatient or outpatient treatment. Earlier this year, the Health Ministry announced a draft of changes aimed at facilitating access to spas and rewarding facilities that provide better services. It will be a patient, rather than a doctor as before, who will be able to choose where they want to be treated. As experts from Asseco note, cloud-based IT tools that facilitate the management of a health care unit will play an important role in increasing competitiveness.

An example of a medical facility that successfully uses cloud computing technology is the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration's Health Resort in Sopot. The decision to implement the cloud was motivated by the desire to create an environment that enables the development, storage, indexing and sharing of electronic medical records (EDM). Thanks to this, medical employees save time, which they can allocate to treating patients - in the long run it translates into a reduction in queues to spas, says Agnieszka Kowalczyk, director of SP ZOZ Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe MSWiA in Sopot.

During the first year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration's Health Resort in Sopot processed more than 410,000 medical events. Over 500 documents are indexed each month. Since the start of the project, more than 4,600 indexes have been sent and updated.

We have as many as 80 active accounts used by doctors, nurses and physical therapists. The implementation was preceded by training courses for employees on the correct recording of data and documents used to communicate with Chmura dla zdrowia’s repository, adds Agnieszka Kowalczyk, Director of SP ZOZ Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe MSWiA in Sopot.

Asseco's solution streamlined the work of the spa, but also resulted in lower costs and helped ensure data security. The Sopot facility wanted the migration to the cloud not to interfere with network infrastructure and not to require investment in additional resources for storing and sharing e-Documentation. EDM in the cloud makes it easy to increase data storage space as the organization's needs change, says Krzysztof Groyecki, Vice President of the Management Board of Asseco Poland.

The security of sensitive data is crucial in healthcare. Its proper protection requires the hiring of highly skilled cybersecurity specialists, which entails the need to secure funds for this purpose in the budget of a medical facility.

The Chmura dla zdrowia service has a feature that allows us to verify the credentials of the person who submits the document request. This ensures that patient data does not end up in the wrong hands and we are able to ensure compliance with GDPR, adds Krzysztof Groyecki, Vice President of the Management Board of Asseco Poland.