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Tag: hospitals
34 hospitals and 3 medical institutions will be included into the terminal network of hospitals. Concept of terminal minimum network in Slovakia will be again renewed from October. It will include providers in the scope of Ministry of Health, which are of strategic importance for the state. Health insurance companies will have to make a contract with them. Proposal of the regulation on public minimum network was today approved by Government.
Ten regional hospitals owned by Penta´s company Svet zdravia are subjects to significant changes. Investor is seeking for the way how to economize along with modernization. Central procurement and integration of the management of hospitals should help to fulfil its ambitions. Competencies of directors of particular healthcare institutions are already severely limited. Unsure is also the future of laboratories and pharmacies provided by hospitals. Even this, however, is about to be changed.
Public procurement in hospital should be more transparent. This should happen thanks to the central public procurement of certain commodities, which is being prepared by the Ministry of Health. Ministry plans to centrally provide the electricity, gas, special medical material and consumables. From this step Ministry expects financial savings in amount of 10% next year.
Chaos in charges set by hospitals continues. People cannot get used to it and keep complaining. Patients are discontent and claim that it is not clear for what they exactly pay. Besides medical performances not covered by health insurance companies, hospitals are asking for extra money for above standard by the accommodation or food, people pay also for using of their own notebook or radio in a hospital room. Charges are different in each hospital and the law is not being violated. Experts agree that until the acts will not exactly define what is standard and what is above standard in healthcare system, system cannot work well.
When hospital announces the public procurement, averagely 1.7 companies apply for it. In other departments in an average less than three applicants enter the competitions. Data results from the analysis of the INEKO Institute and Transparency International Slovakia. From January 2009 until March this year hospitals paid for purchased goods, services or construction services more than € 800 million. According to analysts, if there were two or more subjects concerned in the competition, hospitals could from 2009 save almost € 120 million.
Financial group Penta has definitely took over the network of hospitals mainly in eastern Slovakia. Based on the decision of Antimonopoly Office it has acquired the 100% business share in Estate Consult company, which provides the network of hospitals named Svet zdravia in Humenné, Svidník, Spišská Nová Ves, Rožňava, Trebišov, Partizánske and Vranov nad Topľou with field offices in Medzilaborce and Stropkov. Penta plans to invest € 3 million into the modernization and healthcare services until the end of this year.
Private hospital in Šaca (district of Košice) is allegedly violating the rights of consumers by collecting of flat administrative fee in amount of € 1.2 for providing of extra services. According to the head of Consumer Centre, Miroslav Antoňak, by collecting of this fee the private hospital is violating the law, as by the common outpatient examination it does not provide any extra services, which would be somehow characterized. Hospital refuses these allegations.
Total debt of Roosevelt Faculty Hospital in Banská Bystrica is in amount of about € 30 million, of which around € 24 million are overdue liabilities. Economic situation of the hospital has been, however, according to the director of hospital Vladimír Baláž, in the last half of year slightly improving. Management of the hospital expects the more significant change from the upcoming restructuring, which will bring also the reducing of number of employees.
Total wage costs only on doctors in L. Pasteur University Hospital in Košice in June this year amounted to approximately € 1.15 million. After July increasing the hospital will pay extra € 50 000. Hospital increased the salaries only to doctors who did not reach the lower level of wage set by the amendment to the act on healthcare providers. Hospital this way equalized the minimum basic wage of 332 doctors. According to the spokeswoman, the management of hospital is consistently seeking for the financial reserves.
Second increasing of wages was not applied to all doctors. Hospitals were adjusting the salaries only to those, who until now did not reach the minimum wage set by the law. In the case of unattested doctor it is € 923, the attested doctor should receive at least € 1 461. Such an increasing was gained in their last year's nationwide strike.
