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Tag: hospitals
Minister of Finance Ivan Mikloš considers the possible stoppage of transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies for bad and irresponsible step. According to him, refusal of this change would lead to enormous indebtedness of health care system and public finance. The minister said, that transformation of hospitals is one of the most effective tools to reduce costs, inefficiency, waste and theft. Hospitals functioning as a subsidized organization have allegedly problem even to show the amount of their debt.
Process of hospital transformation into joint-stock companies which already begun could be stopped. Its stopping is one of the most important requirements of the doctors, who have submitted the mass notices. Next Wednesday Minister of Health plans to ask the government to take a clear position. If the government confirms his mandate, he will continue with the transformation. If the government revokes it, he will prepare the transformation agenda for the future government, which will be elected in the early elections in March 2012.
Commission overseeing the bail-out of the hospitals in transition confirmed until 20 October 339 agreements between health care institutions and creditors in an amount of more than € 104.5 million. Ministry of Health reported, that the amount has been transferred to special bank accounts of hospitals. Ministry assumes after entering of payments into the state treasury system and its verification, the first payments will be credited to the creditors' accounts by the end of next week.
Stoppage of the transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies proposed by the opposition party Smer was undergone. The amendment to the Act on educational staff was not voted. The opposition had previously announced, that if the proposal will not pass, it will be submitted on the next parliamentary session. Amendment should have amended the Act on health care providers by deleting the provisions about transformation.
2 800 mothers rated maternity hospitals in Slovakia through the program named Maternity guide. According to them the best maternity hospitals are in Banska Stiavnica, Ruzomberok and Bardejov. The list continues with the maternity hospital in Levoca and Brezno. Hospital Kramare was the best ranked hospital in Bratislava and ended on the eighth place in the overall assessment. Mothers rated for example the pre-delivery care, first moments after birth, staff professionalism, respect for individual needs, etc. Maternity guide (sprievodcaporodnicami.sk) is common project of the website rodinka.sk and Health Policy Institute.
Lack of payments for services in health care are reportedly the main reason for indebtedness of Slovak hospitals. The question of whether the causes of indebtedness are insufficient payments from insurance companies or wasting in hospitals should be resolved by the implementation of DRG system, the payment system for diagnosis. Ministry of Health, hospitals and insurance companies expect the DRG system will bring fairer allocation of funds as well as their effective use.
According to daily Hospodárske noviny from 20/10/2011 a planned operations are postponed even on the other clinics belonging to the University hospital in Bratislava. They are determined by the limits set by Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company), which hospital began to follow with the goal not to increase its debt. According to spokeswoman from University hospital, these problems will disappear at the end of this year. Unions, however, oppose and argue that if hospital will not receive more money and will be transformed into joint-stock company at the end of the year, it will work in limited mode.
Main opposition party Smer will try to stop the transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies on today\'s parliamentary session. They will propose amendments to the Act on educational staff. They consider it as the last chance how to legitimately stop the transformation by the legislation. If the proposal will not pass today, party Smer will try to stop the transformation on the other parliamentary session at the end of November. Former Minister of Health said that the transformation may lead to the collapse of the health system and threaten hospitals chronically, because transformed hospitals are endangered by the extinction.
According to daily SME from 17/10/2011 the main reasons for dissatisfaction of medical trade unionists are the transformation of the hospitals into joint-stock companies and lack of financial sources in health care system. On Monday, unionists urged the members of Parliament to stop the transformation. Similar view has also former Health minister Richard Raši, who expects Health minister Ivan Uhliarik to stop the transformation. Medical unionists and party Smer, however, deny their cooperation.
In order to manage loss, hospitals relegate patients to the waiting lists, according to hnonline.sk (18/10/2011). For some of them this is the way how to be prepared for the transformation, in others directors just want to prove, that they can manage equally. Hospitals can allegedly only perform the operations within the limits from the health insurance companies. Others are moved to other months. But reportedly it is just patients who does not have an urgent problems.
