Greek health authorities have launched an electronic tracking system in hospitals, aiming to bring emergency care closer to EU standards. The initiative, part of a broader effort to modernise the National Health System (ESY), was officially presented on Thursday at Evangelismos General Hospital in Athens.
How the system works
Patients arriving at Emergency Departments will now receive an electronic bracelet that allows medical teams to follow their journey in real time — from diagnostic tests to treatment checkpoints.
The goal is to reduce waiting times, coordinate care more efficiently, and improve patient experience.
By November, the electronic patient tracking system will enter its next stage, introducing a platform to monitor waiting times in hospital emergency departments.
Authorities plan to gather real-time data from ERs to step in when delays become excessive, while also giving patients access to the average waiting times at each hospital.
A wider reform agenda
The electronic bracelet system is one of 10 new measures introduced to strengthen Greece’s public healthcare.
These reforms are structured around three priorities: better services and staffing, infrastructure upgrades, and preventive care.
Key elements include:
- Hospital service ratings: Since June, patients discharged from hospitals can rate the care they received through a digital questionnaire.
- Home delivery of expensive medicines: Eligible patients will start receiving high-cost drugs delivered directly to their homes by a logistics provider, easing the burden of collection.
- Mobile health units (KOMY): Expanded nationwide, these units will provide medical checkups and healthcare access to residents of remote mountain and island areas.
- Staffing increase: In 2025, 430 new medical and administrative staff will be recruited for Attica’s Emergency Departments, including 58 doctors, 121 nurses, 165 stretcher-bearers, and 86 support staff.
- New emergency departments: Eleven modern EDs will open in major hospitals in Attica this year, with four more scheduled for 2026. The new ED at KAT Hospital opens this Friday.
- Free surgeries in private clinics: Funded by the Recovery Fund, 7,000 free afternoon operations will be carried out in private hospitals to cut waiting times. Patients are already receiving SMS appointment notifications.
- Trauma centres: Sixteen new trauma units will be set up within public hospitals across the country.
- Preventive screening program: More than 2 million people have participated in the “Spyros Doxiadis” initiative, leading to over 65,000 early diagnoses and improved treatment outcomes.
- Adult obesity program: This nationwide initiative offers free medical assessments, prescriptions for anti-obesity drugs (for patients with a BMI over 40 and related conditions), and mandatory nutritional counselling as part of a holistic treatment plan.
23.09.2025.
