PZ: Coordinated care is a process that will take years. It takes time and education to implement this program

According to a survey conducted among the Federation's member organizations, the Zielona Góra Agreement - the largest industry entity of this type, the number of clinics willing to enter the project under the current conditions is not even 10%. This means that 90% of all clinics are unable to provide their patients with coordinated care.

For family medicine specialists, coordinated care is an opportunity for better, more comprehensive patient care. Doctors will be able to plan treatment, perform the necessary diagnostic tests and agree on further treatment with other specialists. Coordinators will help the patient with his care plan, but ...

- It won't happen overnight. Unfortunately, no one told patients that although, by definition, coordination in POZ is a solution not only necessary, but even necessary, its implementation is a process for many years, because coordinated care in its current form may only be available in large healthcare entities - says Jacek Krajewski, president of the Zielonogórskie Agreement Federation.

In practice, only a fraction of patients can count on new care options from their family doctor, because facilities outside large centers need several years to provide their patients with coordinated care. Therefore, patients who belong to small clinics in rural areas have the right to feel harmed. The vision of coordination in POZ - although right and necessary, is unrealistic to be introduced for most institutions.

This means that, in its current form, the coordination project is unavailable to most patients, and individual examples of efficiently implemented coordinated care in primary health care are unfortunately individual and it is not possible to draw any conclusions about the project on their basis.

Coordinated care in POZ requires education, explanations of many details, effective talks with the National Health Fund on the conditions for joining the program, and this is not yet available. Despite objections from the community of family medicine specialists and indicating specific areas for improvement, constructive comments were not included in the ordinance.

Coordinated care gives family medicine specialists the opportunity to extend their diagnostic tests, but very specific conditions must be met. First and foremost - it is the doctor who decides which tests to order for the patient - be it at the stage of diagnosis and diagnosis or treatment. The research list is limited to specific diseases.

Coordinated care is also an opportunity to better use the skills of family medicine and nursing care specialists. This is important, especially when caring for patients with chronic diseases. The scope of doctors' competences is wider, and the patient does not have to wander around the system, because the most important tests and consultations will be obtained here - with a family medicine specialist.

The rules imposed by the National Health Fund favor the development of coordination in large cities and networks of clinics, whose patients, due to their higher material status, are in a privileged position anyway. Now it is crucial that the National Health Fund, listening to the opinions of experts from the Federation of Zielona Góra Agreement, introduce changes in the ordinance that will allow for the dissemination of coordinated care among patients who need it most, i.e. in small towns.

Source: Zielona Góra Agreement Federation