POZ: Coordinated care. The annual cost of the changes will be ...

The consultations will last 14 days and the regulation is to enter into force on October 1, 2022. POZ doctors emphasize that, contrary to the ministry's narrative, not all - and probably not even most - POZ units will implement coordination immediately, and perhaps also not even in the coming months or even years. Especially small clinics feel threatened by changes related to, for example, the Act on minimum wages and they think about limiting activities, dismissing staff and even, in extreme cases, about liquidation, rather than taking on new tasks and new obligations.

Already at the stage of presenting the assumptions for changes in POZ (a large number of medics emphasize that it is difficult to talk about a "reform") during the meeting of the Health Committee, prof. Agnieszka Mastalerz-Migas emphasized that coordinated care will be introduced on a voluntary basis, that clinics will be given time to prepare. Experts expect that the tasks will be undertaken in the first place by those clinics that have already participated in the POZ PLUS pilot program, as well as those that operate in large cities.

The new regulations, within the budget entrusted, give patients access to:

- diagnostic tests in the field of cardiology, diabetology, lung diseases, allergology and endocrinology,

- specialist consultations: cardiologist, diabetologist, lung diseases, allergist, endocrinologist,

- comprehensive visits with an Individual Medical Care Plan,

- educational advice provided by nurses,

- dietary advice provided by dieticians.

The team for changes in primary health care recommended adding and financing within the budget entrusted the following diagnostic tests, specialist consultations and advice:

The annual cost of the introduced changes is, according to the Regulatory Impact Assessment, just over PLN 902 million. The Ministry of Health assumes that in the first year of functioning of the care coordinated by its services, "the entire population will be covered with benefits marked with the index 3.2 (adjusting capitalization rate, when financing the services of a primary care physician for people chronically ill with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or thyroid diseases" (i.e. 3.2 million patients) .-- It is estimated that the total annual expenditure on the services of coordinated care will amount to approximately PLN 777.7 million, which will be increased by the costs related to the introduction of a coordinator in coordinated care in the amount of approximately PLN 124.7 million When calculating the expenses for the coordinator, it was assumed that 3.2 million patients included in the coordination in the first year correspond to approximately 9.45 million of the declared population aged 18+ - we read in RIA.

Source: RCL