A new online platform, HomeMed.bg, links patients and their families with medical staff who give care at home. It was presented in Sofia and has been running for about two months.

At the presentation, held at the BTA National Press Club, the Bulgarian Union of Physician Assistants and Paramedics (BUPAP) and the platform's creators signed a memorandum of cooperation.

The document covers models of medical and health services at home. Both sides plan to work together in health care over the long term. They want to make home care easier to get, help physician assistants and paramedics build their skills, and give them ways to work in their profession within current law.

On the platform, users pick a medical service, say where the visit should take place, read about the specialists and book a time that suits them. Patients must register. If they cannot use the platform themselves, someone else can register for them.

Specialists set their own prices, based on the market and the type of service. The platform's team checks the registration and qualifications of everyone who joins. A specialist must have a registered practice or work in one. Physician assistants and paramedics also need the right qualifications, at least three years of experience and membership of their professional body.

The services fall under Ordinance No. 1 of 8 February 2011 on the professional activities that medical specialists can carry out on referral or on their own.

Galina Zahariева, acting chair of BUPAP, said the platform makes it easier to find suitable specialists for home visits. She said patients are often discharged from hospital before they have fully recovered, and their families have to look for a specialist to care for them. GPs are under heavy pressure, she said, and a shortage of staff and their uneven spread make it hard to get help in many towns and villages.

Bulgaria has had no home nursing care for more than 20 years, Zahariева added. She said professional bodies have long pushed for a fix. She said private practices run by medical specialists get no money from the National Health Insurance Fund, so patients pay for the services.

Zahariева believes the platform will let patients find help, and let specialists earn extra, regulated income outside their main job.

Georgi Ivanov, who created the platform, said the idea came from people who had themselves needed medical care at home. The aim is to make specialists easier to find, with no waiting outside surgeries and no time lost searching.

So far, very few specialists have registered on the platform. The team keeps working to improve it and develop its features.