Legal and technical issues, legal and technical disagreements or different interpretations of the contract are under negotiation with the timetable expiring next May.
The Health Insurance Organization is running to solve the big puzzle of the software of the General Health System, since time is already pressing, its contract with the managing company is nearing its expiration and the problems in the IT system reappear, sometimes at high intensity and sometimes at a lower intensity, on average once every fifteen days.
The ownership of the electronic program, i.e. whether it belongs to the contractor company or to the HIO, always based on the contract in force, the right of use and exploitation, the obligations of the private operator, his responsibilities and the constant problems in the operation of the IT system on the one hand, but also the requirements and obligations of the HIO on the other, are at the dialogue table. The two sides, as we are informed, disagree on specific points but are making efforts to resolve all differences between them as soon as possible.
In recent days, the negotiations between the HIO and the contractor company have intensified with each side putting forward its own arguments and claims, while the Audit Office is now entering the frame, which is already studying the agreement between the HIO and the contractor company, is monitoring the procedures and is preparing, as we are informed, to make its own intervention, If, of course, this is deemed necessary, always within the framework of its responsibilities.
On behalf of the HIO, the chairman of the board of directors just last month announced in Parliament that the management of the GHS IT system will be transferred to the Organization at the end of the contract.
Stavros Michael had explained that the intention of the Organization is to maintain cooperation with the existing subcontractors, so that the operation of the GHS is not jeopardized even for one day with the parallel transfer of monitoring and central coordination to the HIO. He even invoked a similar model that is already being implemented by the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority.
Nevertheless, he admitted, this transition is not simple, as it is "a particularly large contract and there are also legal difficulties in the effort".
Although the position of the president of the HIO, which Mr. Michael himself then repeated on several occasions speaking to the media, was clear and based on it the cooperation of the Organization with the specific management company ends with the expiration of the contract, the possible scenarios in the whole case are still two.
Based on the first, which is of course the most prevalent, the model that has already been announced is applied, although in the equation, it is inevitable to add whether the Organization is or will be ready to take over the coordination of the IT system without further problems arising in its operation (a relevant point was also made by the leadership of the HIO in Parliament).
On the other hand, of course, the HIO must take over, at some point, the management of the IT system, even proceeding with its necessary upgrade/modernization/update.
According to the second scenario, the contract is renewed for some more time in the hope that the contractor company will be able to solve the problems that the GHS software has been presenting for a year, inconvenience Cypriot patients and health professionals.
The next two months are crucial
In any case, the next two months should be considered particularly critical for the General Health System in general as the IT system is also the operating engine of the GHS in practice. Therefore, the resolution of this issue, in one way or another, is imperative.
It is recalled that the GHS software from the day of the implementation of the System in June 2019 until the Fall of 2024 operated without problems, serving patients and health professionals.
The problems in its operation began to appear after the termination of the contractor's cooperation with some of its subcontractors in the last months of 2024 and continued in the first months of 2025. Some interventions by the administrator followed and for several months there were no particular problems. Then, however, at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, the problems reappeared, as a result of which the negotiation (which in some cases is tough) between the HIO and the contractor company is currently underway.
