Croatia
Cancer Centers
Healthcare System
Croatia operates under a universal healthcare system, which provides comprehensive health coverage to all its citizens. It is primarily financed through mandatory health insurance contributions, with additional funding from the state budget.
The Croatian healthcare system is managed by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (CHIF), a public organization responsible for financing healthcare services. The Ministry of Health oversees the healthcare system at the national level and sets policy, while regional management is delegated to the 21 County Health Departments (CHDs).
The population of Croatia receives a wide range of healthcare benefits through the system, including primary care, specialist care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, dental care, mental health care, rehabilitation services, prescription medications, and emergency medical services. Preventive care, such as vaccinations and screenings, is also covered.
All Croatian citizens and residents are eligible for healthcare benefits, provided they have registered with the CHIF and are up-to-date with their mandatory health insurance contributions. Foreign nationals residing in Croatia may also access the healthcare system if they have the appropriate documentation and insurance coverage.
The National Public Health Information System of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (CIPH) collects data for various registries, including a cancer registry. The Central Health Information System (CEZIH), on the other hand, is managed by CHIF and is used to share standardized health data to support delivery of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare [1].
Croatia has implemented an electronic health record system (EHR) to improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare services. Healthcare providers are required to use the EHR system to record and share patients' medical information, including diagnoses, treatments, and prescriptions. The CHIF maintains a centralized database of claims data and registries, allowing for effective monitoring of healthcare expenditures, utilization, and quality. This data is used for planning, policy development, and evaluation purposes.
Administrative or Claims Data
Central Health Information System
Sponsor, manager or home institution: Croatian Health Insurance Fund.
Type of information: The content of the complete dataset was not found.
Available type of information: Procedures grouper including tables with all categories of procedures, casemix, admission justification, main diagnosis, as well as different sortings such as frequency by category of hospital, by complexity, etc.
Source of information: Data is acquired from all healthcare providers in Croatia [2].
Data level: Patient level.
Available data level: Hospital level.
Number of records: Unknown.
Date range: Unknown.
Available date range: 2010 onwards.
Data access: Partially publicly available [3].
Information/Contact for data request: Unknown.
Registries
Croatian National Cancer Registry
Primary purpose: Register cancer frequency and mortality in Croatia.
Sponsor, manager or home institution: Croatian Institute of Public Health.
Type of information: Discharged patients and out-of-hospital reports of malignant neoplasms, registers of cancer death.
Source of Information: Reports from health institutions and private practice health workers. The mortality database is sent from the State Statistics Office and the Croatian Institute of Public Health data from the Patient Statistical Forms on magnetic media obtained from the Department of Health Care and Hospital Health Care of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.
Data level: Patient level.
Number of Records: Unknown.
Date Range: 1959 onwards [4].
Cancer Areas of Interest: Unknown.
Data access: Partially publicly available [5]. Instructions to request data for restricted content [6].
Information/Contact for data request: Contact information [7].
Medicinal Products
Primary purpose: List all medicinal products with marketing authorization granted by HALMED and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Sponsor, manager, or home institution: Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (HALMED)
Available information: Medicine name, marketing authorization number, active substance, pharmaceutical form, manufacturer, marketing authorization holder, marketing authorization date, MA period of validity, classification number, registration number, composition, prescription, type of prescription, distribution, advertising to the general public, ATC code and medicinal product marketed in Croatia.
Data access: Partially publicly available [8].
Latest Policymaking Initiatives
National Cancer Control Plan 2020-2030
Sponsor, manager or home institution: Ministry of Health; all other organizations participating in the plan.
Primary purpose: Improve cancer care at all levels, including primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, diagnosis, treatment, palliative care, research, education, and data recording.
Type of information: Detailed plans for all goals above, including objectives, resources, stakeholders, economic evaluations and key references.
'Level: National level.
Access to information: Contact information [9]. English version [10].
National Breast Cancer Early Detection Program
Primary Purpose: To reduce mortality from breast cancer by 15-25%, to detect breast cancer in the initial stage in the highest possible percentage, and to improve the quality of life of breast cancer patients.
Level: National level.
Information/Contact: Contact information [11].
ESMO Patient Guides
Sponsor, manager or home institution: European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
Primary purpose: Provide patients, their relatives and caregivers guides to better understand complex medical information about different types of cancer.
Available guides: Cancer Treatment During the COVID-19 Pandemic; Side Effects Associated with Immunotherapy and Their Management; Personalized Medicine in Oncology; Life with Cancer; Breast Cancer; Ovarian Cancer; Cervical Cancer.
Type of information: Laymen-directed descriptions of specific cancers, their causes, diagnoses, treatment, screening, and side effects, among other relevant information for patients, their relatives and caregivers.
Access to information: Patient Guides [12].
