Today, a meeting of representatives of the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariffs on the valuation of coordinated care services in POZ

Healthcare centers are the places most frequently visited by Poles, where the greatest number of services are provided and where the patient is shown the direction on the way along the often complicated paths of the health care system. Often times, POZ is a place of only contact with a representative of the system, because patients from small towns and villages have problems with access to specialists, which is caused by the distance from large urban centers, and for elderly patients and patients without their own means of transport, it is a big challenge, and often a barrier impossible to beat. The aim of coordinated care is to provide patients with comprehensive protection at the primary health care level.

The community of primary care physicians unanimously and with joy adopted the decision on the plans to introduce coordinated care. However, the method of implementing coordination and the upcoming meeting of AOTMiT on the valuation of coordination are less optimistic. As Jacek Krajewski, president of the Zielona Góra Agreement Federation, says, "We will carefully observe the results of the Agency's meeting, this time counting on a thorough analysis and valuation based on the needs of patients, facility capabilities and a number of factors that affect patients' health safety in every part of Poland. Staff shortages and drastically growing inflation are a significant challenge for employers from POZ, and although we are looking forward to new tools that will undoubtedly be provided by coordinated care, today we must first of all think about maintaining our facilities. This is what our patients expect from us. ”

The community of primary care physicians believes that, unlike the valuation of funds for increases, this time AOTMiT will perform a thorough analysis, and the valuation of coordinated care will be based on a methodology without errors. The discussion so far on the implementation of coordinated care raises many questions and doubts, because although the idea itself does not raise any objections, as usual "the devil is in the details". And these are not kind, especially for small clinics away from big cities.

Representatives of the Zielona Góra Agreement Federation, which associates 1/3 of POZ units from all over the country, fear that the lack of efficient coordination, which consists of a number of factors, will lead to a two-speed POZ model. What does this mean in practice? Patients from small towns and villages may have a real problem with access not only to specialists, but even to primary care physicians, who will find it difficult to meet the requirements of the coordinated care project.

“We are waiting for coordinated care with a great deal of optimism, but it is difficult to enjoy such fantastic projects when small clinics overwhelm everyday life - staff shortages and problems with maintaining facilities due to rising costs. Currently, the only salvation for small clinics, and therefore directly for patients, is a fair and reliable valuation of coordinated care services, which will allow to maintain the facilities, and even enter the next system, in order to protect patients as much as possible, especially those from outside large cities. We are really concerned about the specter of the clinic closing down. What will we tell our patients then? What will the government say when a voter from a small town and village asks why he is worse than his cousin in a big city? ”- asks Marek Sobolewski - a family doctor working in a small town in the Lublin region.

Not only the Federation of Zielona Góra Agreement, but also the Polish Society of Family Medicine and the College of Family Physicians in Poland appealed about the drastically lowered valuations regarding the increases. Can healthcare providers from POZ count on a fair distribution of funds this time? Although the question should be whether this patient from a small town and village will be protected and will be able to count on further support from his family doctor? Because this is about the patient.

Source: Zielona Góra Agreement