Basic Health Care Act adopted by the Sejm
On October 27, 2017, the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) adopted the Basic Health Care Act.
This is one of the groundbreaking changes that will be felt by patients and which was requested by many over the years.
The new basic healthcare model assumes:
1. That primary health care (podstawowa opieka zdrowotna -POZ) will be based on family medicine and family nursing (from 1 January 2025).
2. That primary health care will be covered by the primary care team consisting of a POZ physician, a POZ nurse and a POZ midwife. The team's work will be coordinated by a physician, deciding on the manner and implementation of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for the patient. The team will work on the basis of the professional independence of its members.
3. Ensuring the coordination:
- of preventive care appropriate to the patient's age, sex, diagnosis, and specialist consultations, in accordance with individual plans for diagnosis, treatment and care,
- of "administrative coordinator" a provider who will organize the process of providing health care services, including informing patient about the process
Implementation of the coordinated care model (starting in October 2020) will be preceded by a pilot program, implemented until 31 December 2019, on the basis of the provisions of the so-called "Pillot law".
4. That the POZ will cooperate with other parts of the system (in particular with the Outpatient Specialist Care; Ambulatoryjna opieka specjalistyczna -AOS) and exchange information on the patient's medical condition (eg diagnosis and treatment of the patient)
5. Introducing the motivational payment system of the POZ, in which, apart from capitalization rate, there will be:
- entrusted budget, i.e. funds intended to provide coordinated care
- task fee, i.e. additional funds intended to provide preventive health care
- incentive bonus for treatment outcome and quality of care
The proposed solutions will improve the organization of patient care while coordinating activities with other parts of the healthcare system. The Ministry of Health will focus on both POZ and hospital treatment. The draft of the Basic Health Care Act is a supplement of the Act that was introduced to a network of hospitals in October.
In progress are:
Introduction of medical and dental offices at school
Act of national emergency services
Increased expenditure on healthcare