PPOZ summarizes the passing year

Fines unjustified - unprecedented court ruling!

The outgoing year always prompts summaries and reflections. Doctors of the Healthcare Employers' Agreement did not complain about a lack of work and challenges. One of the most important was the fight against the National Health Fund's imposition of financial penalties on physicians for allegedly incorrectly prescribing Neocate LCP milk. In PPOZ's opinion - the penalties were not justified either legally, medically or even more ethically. PPOZ's view was shared by the Poznań District Court, which issued an unprecedented ruling in the case. In his justification, he noted that the primary care physician's prescription of Neocate LCP to a patient over 12 months old was justified on medical grounds. The boy, who was born with numerous medical conditions, did not tolerate any other products. The PPOZ's consistency and persistence led to the reimbursement of collected funds to poz entities, thus saving many family doctor practices.

Patient safety in 2025 will be preserved!

The efforts of the Healthcare Employers' Agreement in 2024 thwarted the introduction of non-viable legislation, such as the provisions of the POZ law regarding the validity of declarations as of January 1, 2025. According to them - if a patient chose providers who did not form a primary care team, their declarations were to expire on December 31, 2024. In letters to the Ministry of Health, PPOZ physicians pointed out the high harmfulness of the provisions, which could eventually lead to drastic economic consequences for the continued operation of poz, and would put patients in the face of a lack of accessibility to primary care. In the end, PPOZ's arguments were taken into account by the ministry, which means that as of January 1, 2025, patients will have access to "family doctors of their choice" as before.

New year - new (old) challenges

The approaching new year means new and... old challenges for doctors of the Healthcare Employers' Agreement. Certainly, the fight for simplification of the rules and automation in reimbursement will continue, thus removing from doctors the obligation to determine the amount of reimbursement for medicines, which still entails financial penalties and cuts off patients from treatment options.

PPOZ physicians have high hopes for the initiative of the Senate Health Committee to establish 2025 as the "Year of Health Education and Prevention." As Beata Małecka-Libera, chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, pointed out - this is necessary due to the ever-deteriorating health condition of Polish society and the dynamically increasing incidence rate of civilization diseases.

- The role of prevention cannot be overestimated. Check-ups make it possible to detect a possible problem at an early stage, when treatment is still relatively easy and effective. This is especially important for diseases that develop slowly and insidiously. Lifestyle is extremely important, and above all the fight against bad habits: lack of exercise, inadequate diet, addictions! This is where diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks, cancer, as well as depression and mental illnesses come from! We hope that with our joint efforts we will develop healthy habits in our patients and thus reduce the disproportion between Poland and European Union countries, which record significantly lower statistics of chronic diseases," stresses Bożena Janicka.