Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Jelena Borovinić Bojović, met with Jana Belcheva Andreevska, an expert from North Macedonia, who presented experiences from a telemedicine pilot project implemented through cooperation between NALAS, the Government and the competent ministry.
The meeting was also attended by Mišela Manojlović, Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, and discussions focused on the possibilities of applying this model in Montenegro as well, with adaptations to the needs of the national healthcare system.
The presented system enables remote monitoring of basic health parameters and the digital transmission of data to healthcare professionals in real time. This allows for the continuous monitoring of patients living in hard-to-reach and remote areas, as well as chronic patients who, due to their health condition, are unable to visit a doctor regularly, while ensuring adequate monitoring of their health status.
Deputy Prime Minister Borovinić Bojović expressed her support for this initiative, emphasizing that telemedicine can be particularly important for older persons, chronic patients, persons with disabilities, and citizens living in rural and remote areas.
“Telemedicine represents an important complement to the existing healthcare system, as it enables us to bring healthcare closer to citizens for whom it is less accessible due to distance or reduced mobility. A pilot project in one Montenegrin municipality would be an important first step towards assessing its concrete benefits and the potential for wider implementation,” Borovinić Bojović said.
Expert Jana Belcheva Andreevska presented how the project operates and the results achieved in the Municipality of Delčevo, highlighting its practical benefits for patients and healthcare professionals. She emphasized that effective coordination between healthcare institutions and local government, as well as simple, reliable and user-friendly technology, are particularly important for the successful implementation of this model.
Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro (UoM) Mišela Manojlović expressed the Union’s readiness to connect interested local governments with healthcare institutions and international partners and, in cooperation with them, contribute to securing the necessary conditions and funding for the implementation of the project.
The participants concluded that it is necessary to consider the institutional, professional and technical requirements, as well as concrete steps, to implement a telemedicine pilot project in a Montenegrin municipality where access to healthcare services is limited due to the remoteness of settlements, the dispersed nature of the territory or poor transport connections, drawing on the presented model and adapting it to Montenegro’s healthcare system.
