Zielonogórska Porozumienie Zielonogórskie: coordinated care in primary care is threatened with liquidation

"The decision of the President of the National Health Fund will destroy coordinated care in primary health care," alarms Jacek Krajewski, president of the Federation Porozumienie Zielonogórskie. The organization has no doubt that Order No. 79/2025/DSOZ on the terms of conclusion and implementation of contracts for the provision of POZ services is harmful and unacceptable.

- This is a step backwards and squanders the tremendous effort of family doctors who have shown that coordinated care works and produces real results. Instead of strengthening what has improved patient access and shortened queues, the National Health Service is making a decision that will set the system back years. This is the destruction of well-functioning care and shattering the foundation of the health care system," Krajewski stressed.

Coordinated care has been developing since 2023 thanks to solutions developed by the PZ Federation together with the Ministry of Health and the National Health Service. A key role was played by a coordinator - a patient guide who guided chronic patients and supported the family doctor. The results exceeded expectations: today more than 48 percent of primary care centers provide such care, which realistically shortens queues, improves accessibility to diagnostics and facilitates the treatment of patients with diabetes, hypertension or heart failure.

Meanwhile, the new ordinance, introduced without the consultations envisaged by law, drastically reduces funding for this key position. The coordinator's salary would be no more than PLN 2,700 net - a mere 75 percent of the minimum salary. According to PZ, such conditions are contrary to the law and will make it impossible to maintain this function in most facilities, especially in smaller entities and rural areas.

- It is through coordinated care that chronically ill patients gain quick access to diagnostics and can be stably managed by their family doctor. Such organized care reduces queues to specialists, relieves the burden on hospitals and improves the efficiency of the system, the Federation points out.

The Zielonogórska Porozumienie Zielonogórskie is calling for the withdrawal of the decision, which it believes destroys a solution that has been proven in practice and is beneficial to patients. "Should it be the goal of NFZ Chairman Filip Nowak to worsen access to health services closer to the patient at a time when diseases of civilization are one of the biggest threats to public health?" - the doctors ask.

According to PZ, coordinated care has proven its effectiveness and must not be sacrificed in the name of short-sighted financial decisions. The organization is calling for stable and responsible funding to develop, rather than destroy, what works and brings real benefits to patients.

Source: FPZ