There is a chance that chronically ill patients who have to report to the hospital for biologic drug administration will be able to receive therapy from a specialist at an outpatient clinic. This will also increase the availability of such treatment, as outpatient clinics are able to accept more patients than hospitals.
A chance to increase the availability of biological treatment in Poland
Published July 7, 2023 11:36
The Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tarification recommends allowing chronically ill patients who have to take drugs in the hospital under drug programs - to administer them in outpatient clinics with continued pharmacotherapy at home. - If this change were to go into effect, patients - who are often dependent - would not have to travel to hospitals, sometimes far from where they live, for the administration of biological drugs. Outpatient clinics could also accept many more patients, which would improve the availability of biological treatment in Poland, says Grzegorz Rychwalski, vice president of National Drug Manufacturers.
Biological drugs have revolutionized medicine, as they have proven effective against diseases for which previously used pharmaceuticals did not work. In Poland, access to these therapies is still much worse than in other EU countries. According to the report "Inequalities in access to biological treatment in autoimmune diseases in Europe," in 2020, about 1.8% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Poland had access to biological therapies. Meanwhile, in other European countries, they are used in about 20-25% of patients. - We are therefore surprised that the health ministry wants to reimburse over-the-counter drugs in a situation where so many pharmacotherapy needs remain unmet. After all, when spending limited funds from Poles' health premiums, a gradation of these needs is needed," points out Grzegorz Rychwalski.
Thanks to competition in the biologic drug market, the decrease in the cost of biologic treatment has reached up to 80%. The savings generated can be used to make these drugs available to more patients. However, according to experts, it will not be possible to achieve the degree of availability we see in other countries without organizational changes, because hospitals running drug programs are not able to treat so many patients.
The president of AOTMiT recommends (No. 65/2023, June 30 this year) that therapies currently provided under drug programs in hospitals for chronically ill patients be added to the list of guaranteed outpatient specialized care services. In its view, this will improve the availability of drug therapies, reduce the burden on hospitals that carry out the programs, and relieve the burden on the entire system by eliminating clinically unwarranted hospitalizations.
- Providing the drug free of charge outside the hospital in an outpatient specialty care setting, i.e. at the local clinic, the one closest to the patient, is a very effective solution. The drug would be administered to the patient at the time of the patient's cyclic check-up and issued for continuation of therapy at home. This would protect the patient from incurring the cost of pharmacotherapy. Such a solution would also relieve the burden on doctors who take care of patients in the most serious condition, those just treated in the hospital. We hope that the Health Ministry will respond positively to these recommendations in order to increase patients' access to biological treatment," points out Grzegorz Rychwalski.
Source: National Drug Manufacturers
