Users of the eGov.kz portal and the eGov Mobile application can now register up to three trusted contacts in advance. These contacts will be notified if the user is hospitalized due to an emergency.

The new service is designed to ensure that family members and other close contacts are promptly informed in emergency situations. For example, if a user is involved in an accident, suddenly becomes unwell, or is hospitalized for another reason and is unable to contact their family independently, a notification will be sent to the trusted contacts specified by the user. This will enable them to quickly learn about the hospitalization and respond accordingly.

“We understand how important it is in an emergency for a person’s loved once to be promptly informed of their hospitalization. The new eGov service allows users to designate trusted contacts in advance who will be notified if the user is unable to contact them personally. It is a small but important feature that makes digital public services even more responsive to people’s real-life needs”, said Rostislav Konyashkin, First Vice Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

To register a trusted contact via the eGov.kz portal, the user needs to:

• log in on the eGov.kz portal;
• select the "Registration of Trusted Contacts for Hospitalization Notifications" service;
• enter the trusted contact’s IIN. The trusted contact must be of legal age and registered in the Mobile Citizens Database. Up to three trusted contacts may be specified;
• consent to the processing of personal data and the transfer of health information;
• submit a consent request;
• the specified trusted contacts will receive an SMS asking them to confirm or decline their registration. To confirm, they must reply to the SMS with code 911; to decline, they must use code 912. They have up to five hours to confirm or decline the request. If no response is received within this period, the request will be assigned the status “Consent Expired”; if confirmed, the status will change to “Approved”;
• once the trusted contacts have provided their consent, an applicant signs the request.

If a trusted contact confirms the registration, the relevant information is transmitted to the information system of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The registered contact will subsequently receive a notification if the user is hospitalized. If the trusted contact declines the request, the registration is rejected. The relevant status will be displayed in the user’s personal account.

To register trusted contacts via the eGov Mobile app, users should follow a similar procedure: open "Public Services", go to the "Healthcare" category, and select "Registration of Trusted Contacts for Hospitalization Notifications".

The new service is available to individuals free-of-charge. Applications are processed by the information system of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan within 10 minutes. Once processing is complete, the trusted contact registration status will be displayed in the user’s personal account on eGov.kz and in "Messages – Personal Account History" section in eGov Mobile.

The new functionality was introduced through the joint efforts of the Public Services Committee of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, National Information Technologies JSC, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Republican Center for Electronic Healthcare.