Minister Irena Hrstić has extended the deadline for the second time, and the Ministry of Health has no data on how many private institutions have been connected to the public information system so far.
Medical test results of patients who undergo examinations in private polyclinics and practices will not be visible in the public health system for another six months. The deadline for connecting private healthcare providers to the CEZIH information system has been postponed to January 1, 2027, the Ministry of Health confirmed to Novi list.
This is the second extension of the deadline, first moved from January to July this year, and now to the beginning of 2027. This means that data on tests performed in the private sector will remain inaccessible to public healthcare for another six months, as will information about when a doctor employed in public healthcare provided services at a private practice.
The main goal of connecting private providers to CEZIH is faster exchange of medical documentation, so that tests a patient has undergone at a private provider are not unnecessarily repeated in the public sector. Monitoring the engagements of hospital doctors in private polyclinics is another key aspect, as insights into findings from private consultations reveal their daily workload in both positions.
Health Minister Irena Hrstić announced the obligation for private polyclinics and other healthcare institutions to connect and send data to CEZIH as early as last summer. The Ministry of Health published technical documents for aligning private software with CEZIH in September 2025, while the announcement of the start of connection checks by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) came at the end of that year. To date, this has not happened, so patients still have to carry their findings from private polyclinics in paper form.
When asked how many private healthcare institutions that are not contractual partners of HZZO have been connected to CEZIH so far, the Ministry of Health had no answer. "Private providers are still in the process of connecting. The deadline for connection is January 1, 2027," the Ministry stated.
The guide specifically defines what information is sent through CEZIH, including reports after visits to private outpatient clinics, discharge letters, and findings from private specialist practices. The post-examination report will contain administrative data for identifying the patient, institution, and doctor, as well as medical data.
Although there has been some grumbling about the new obligation, no private healthcare provider will be able to avoid it. Under the Act on Data and Information in Healthcare, all healthcare service providers, including private institutions without contracts with HZZO, must exchange health data through CEZIH. The fine for healthcare institutions that do not exchange data with CEZIH is around 7,000 euros.
The Ministry of Health also plans to align the system with European regulations. "In accordance with Regulation 2025/327 on the establishment of the European Health Data Space, public, private, and non-profit entities, as well as individual researchers, will be granted access to health data for research, innovation, policy-making, educational purposes, patient safety, regulatory activities, or personalized medicine," the Ministry stated.
As part of the mandatory upgrades to CEZIH, the development of a data warehouse is planned to monitor treatment outcomes, generate various reports, and track staff efficiency, along with services for developing and implementing a module for data anonymization.
