MZ: lump sum financing will probably come back in paediatrics

On Friday, the Minister of Health, Adam Niedzielski, and the President of the National Health Fund, Filip Nowak, visited the Children's University Hospital in Kraków-Prokocim, and right there - in a facility where last year's dissatisfaction of doctors turned into months-long conflict with the management, which nearly paralyzed the facility and did not threaten patients with evacuation - they announced that another change in funding is needed in the pediatric segment.

In 2021, lump sum financing was discontinued, despite the fact that a large number of experts pointed to the risks associated with such a decision. At the time, the National Health Fund and the Ministry of Health explained that the lack of limits on pediatric services would mean that facilities that treat patients will not have any financial problems. However, this turned out to be not true. Firstly, during the pandemic, the number of services provided decreased - which hit poviat and provincial hospitals in the first place, which additionally struggled with the problem of demography (the decreasing number of patients under the age of 18). On the other hand, highly specialized hospitals, in which services were provided, emphasized and continue to emphasize that the basic problem is the valuation of these services - because in a large part of the services they are significantly below costs, the provision of more services even deepens the financial loss of the hospital. And the worse the condition of the hospital, the worse the working conditions deteriorate. - I asked the president of the National Health Fund, Filip Nowak, for financial strengthening for paediatrics. We want to definitely strengthen highly specialized pediatrics, and at the same time pediatrics at the basic level, guaranteeing constant funding - said Adam Niedzielski in Krakow. - We will probably want to return to lump-sum financing that guarantees basic access, and at the same time find mechanisms for additional financing of hospitals - said the president of the National Health Fund, Filip Nowak, on Friday, pointing out that a team appointed for this is still working on the changes. - We also have to work on the financial liquidity of the best hospitals, that is try to find mechanisms to pay for excess payments faster - and this is also the goal and task of this Team. I think we will present the results soon, he said.

On April 1, 2022, the Minister of Health appointed a new team to develop a proposal to change the financing of pediatric services. Its chairman was Filip Nowak, president of the National Health Fund, and its deputy chairman was Marek Migdał, director of CZD in Warsaw. The team has until June 20 to submit their proposals.