NEWS  ASSOCIATION  MEMBERS  FUTURE MEMBERS  OSSN STATUTE  CONTACT  PO POLSKU		2003-06-30 Press Conference On 26 June there was a press conference at a conference room of the Supreme Medical Council in Warsaw to discuss the guidelines for the planned reorganisation of the Polish health service. The meeting was attended by representatives of the National Union of Doctors (OZZL), the Polish Private Hospitals Association, the Private Healthcare Employers Association, and the experts Andrzej Soœnierz, MD, a former director of the Lower Silesian Health Fund, and Wojciech Misiński, PhD, from the Wrocław University of Economics. The proposed changes, combined to form "The Code of a Rational Healthcare System" (see full text) were addressed to the deputy minister Jerzy Hausner. In the opinion of the authors it is currently the best alternative to the solutions being prepared by the government. THE MAIN THESES of the press conference held on 26 August 2003 regarding the Consensus of Medical Communities on the health service reform The introduction of the NFZ did not improve the poor state of the health service. A new programme must be developed which would comprehensively address the functioning of medical care in Poland. The government made the mistake of disregarding the critical assessment of the NFZ by various circles of competent professionals: doctors, health fund directors, hospital directors, owners of private healthcare institutions (ZOZ), and economists involved in health service. The above-mentioned professional circles have reached a consensus of health service reform, based on the following principles: free choice of insurers by citizens - with regard to primary (general) and additional (voluntary) insurance - as a requirement for effective utilization of money designated for treatment and empowerment of the insured free choice of service providers by patients, giving the rise to competition among hospitals, outpatient clinics, and doctors "competition-less entry into the system" on the assumption that each entity allowed to treat patients can provide medical services refunded by the state health fund unlimited health services - in order to enable fair competition among service providers and equal access of patients to services. Limits on the number of health services shall be replaced with other mechanisms ensuring reasonable utilization of available services, such as: strict defining (standardization) of services, control by the insurer of the legitimacy of their use, and direct contributions by patients to the cost of some of the services. each insurer gets the same reimbursement for the same service - condition necessary to ensure equal treatment of all medical entities by the Payer service providers can introduce prices higher than the reimbursement amount - ensuring market verification of prices and initiation of additional health insurance presence of direct contributions by patients to some health services - ensuring effective control and elimination of unjustified use of services solution to the problem of hospital debt - before the introduction of a new system The above-mentioned key points summarize the rational model of healthcare. However, the authors of the study have prepared all the requisite detailed solutions. The above-mentioned programme offers the following benefits: Individual citizen (the insured, patient) becomes the subject of the system and the administrator of money for his own healthcare; insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors compete among themselves to be chosen by the patient. The black economy and the corruption are eliminated along with troublesome and dangerous waiting lists and the rationing of health services. The system is flexible and financially efficient, the loads and the benefits are evenly distributed among the state, the insurer, the citizen, and the healthcare personnel. There are new prospects for the growth and investments in medical care. The above programme has been signed by the following organizations and persons: the National Union of Doctors (OZZL), The Polish Private Hospitals Association, Private Healthcare Employers Association, representatives of the employers of Independent Healthcare Public Centres (SPZOZ), Andrzej Soœnierz, a former director of the Lower Silesian Health Fund, and Wojciech Misiński, economist and expert in the field of healthcare economics. The above-mentioned persons submitted an Open Letter to the Minister Hausner outlining the proposed programmed and proposing a meeting to discuss this subject.