DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF UKRAINIAN HEALTHCARE AND DIGITAL SKILLS OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS: WARTIME CHALLENGES AND STEPS TOWARDS THE EU
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32689/2786-7161-2026-2-11Keywords:
digital transformation of healthcare, digital competence of medical professionals, eHealth, medical education, DESI, telemedicine, artificial intelligenceAbstract
Ukrainian medicine is undergoing major transformations: a shift to electronic services, integration into the European digital space, and operation under wartime conditions. Near the front, digital tools are often the only way to track a patient across care levels, yet no complete picture exists of how ready the sector and personnel are for this level of digitalization. E. Topol addressed AI in medicine, A. Holmgren and colleagues electronic health records in US hospitals, and the DESI index sets the methodology for assessing digital skills. V. Bykov and V. Lapinsky examined electronic learning tools, I. Bulakh and M. Mruga knowledge control in medical education. In 2024 the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and eHealth presented the Digital Competence Framework for healthcare workers, yet aligning it with European standards in wartime remains open. The study assesses digital transformation of Ukrainian medicine, personnel readiness for digital tools, and steps needed to develop skills against European standards and wartime realities, based on a review of Nature Medicine and Health Affairs, EU digital-policy documents, the 2024 Framework, a USAID/UKAID survey from Zhytomyr, Lviv and Donetsk regions, and Ukrainian works on medical education. Medicine worldwide moves toward integration of clinical practice with AI, while in Ukraine digitalization accelerated because of the war but is constrained by the human factor: only 44% of healthcare workers report above-basic computer skills, 35% basic, 21% below basic. The Framework needs specialty modules and updates; curricula still lag. Transformation will succeed only if infrastructure, the Framework and education develop together and align with DESI.
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