or aural treatment, inpatient or outpatient hospital treatment or prescription medicines. Those who need dialysis, oxygen therapy or other specialised treatments can arrange for them before their visit. Performance Ireland was ranked 19th out of 34 European countries on the Personalised Health Index in 2021. The use of telemedicine has grown exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland and electronic prescriptions have been widely adopted. Ireland scores very poorly for Decision Support Systems in mHealth It was given high scores for legislation on Electronic Health Records but the use of electronic records across healthcare facilities was graded as poor. The problem was said to be lack of infrastructure and delays in implementing data-sharing policies. Satisfaction with the health service A survey, commissioned by the HSE in 2007, found that patient satisfaction with the health service was quite high, with 90% of inpatients and 85% of outpatients saying they were satisfied with their treatment. In addition to this, 97% said they were satisfied with the care provided by their GP. The 2008 Health Consumer Powerhouse Euro Health Consumer Index report ranked Ireland's public healthcare system 11th out of 31 European countries. This is an improvement on the 2007 report which ranked Ireland 16th out of 29 countries, and a drastic improvement on the 2006 report, in which Ireland was ranked 26th out of 26 countries. Health Service Executive The Health Service Executive (HSE) manages the delivery of the entire health service as a single national entity. There are four HSE administrative areas (HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster, HSE Dublin North-East, HSE South and HSE West), which are in turn divided into 32 Local Health Offices (LHOs). |It is Ireland's largest employer with over 100,000 workers; and has an annual budget of €16 billion, more than any other public sector organisation. Minister for Health The Minister for Health has responsibility for setting overall policy with regard to the health service. Private health insurance Private health insurance is available to the population for those who want it. Vhi Healthcare (which is a semi-state company), Laya Healthcare, and Irish Life Health provide health insurance, among other services. On 2nd July 2012, GloHealth entered the market to become Ireland's fourth private health insurer. In 2005, 47.6% of people were covered by private health insurance. The regulatory body for private health insurance is the Health Insurance Authority. In 2015 the proportion of people buying private