The contacts and negotiations between the Health Insurance Organization (OHI) and the representatives of private hospitals, for the integration of Accident and Emergency Departments (AEDs) in the General Health System, are proceeding at a snail's pace, with the Organization having decided to give priority to a private hospital of capital.
Although the Organization had informed the private hospitals that are contracted with the GeSY, they should also join their TAEP, as otherwise it would lead to the closure of their Departments , the possibility of the inclusion of all three hospitals under negotiation before the end of the year seems remote.
Despite this, the OAU, according to information, held a new meeting with the president of the Board of Directors of the Apollonian Hospital, Dr. Christos Pouris, submitting a proposal for the inclusion of the TAEP hospital. During the new meeting, some concerns were expressed, however, reasonable time was given to decide whether to respond positively or negatively to the proposal.
Speaking to REPORTER, Dr. Pouris noted that during the recent meeting they had with representatives of the Organization, there was an exchange of views so that there would be a proper cooperation on the issue of the inclusion of TAEP.
“We listened to their proposal, but we will have to study it seriously to find the common points, the differences and we will come back to start the negotiation with the Organization,” he said.
The Organization has set as a priority the inclusion of the TAEP of the Apollonian Hospital in Nicosia, because it is a large integrated hospital that serves a large number of patients and includes doctors of many specialties. The OAU gave the hospital time to consider the proposal, however their goal is to have a result by the end of the year.
It should be recalled that, in addition to Apollonion, the Agios hospital showed their intention to include their TAEP in the NHS Raphael in Larnaca and the Annunciation in Paphos. Of the three hospitals, only Evangelismos has shut down its TAEP.
Hospital Fees
Of course, the OAU has focused more on finalizing the proposal for the new way of compensating hospitals. The proposal, which has been prepared with the help of experts, includes incentives and criteria for compensation.
The basic motivations and criteria that the Organization has chosen to include in its proposal are, the degree of patient satisfaction with the services that the hospital will provide, the number of difficult cases it will undertake, the provision of specialized services and the number of care elderly people. At the same time, the correct coding and correct updating of the patients' medical file will be included.
The proposal of the Organization, once completed, is expected to be put up for consultation, before the hospitals in November, so that they can reach an agreement, in an effort to include another serious issue outside the list of priorities of the OAU.
Discordants on the OAU Board
However, in addition to the above, the Organization has taken a little breather regarding the second investigation of the members of the Board of Directors of the OAU, for possible incompatibility, after the first investigation by the Incompatibility Committee which had concluded in incompatibility for its former president Board of the OAU.
The Committee's conclusion concluded that it is also incompatible with the second member of the Board, namely the Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Health, Anastasia Christodoulidou, due to the fact that her husband is an importer machines for clinical laboratories and is a partner with laboratories that are providers of services to the NHS.
At the same time, with regard to the labor organizations, PEO and SEK, for which a different procedure was followed in terms of checking for incompatibility, the The Commission concluded that “there is no irreconcilable”.
As for Ms. Christodoulou, she is expected to be replaced soon, according to what she stated in i.e. the Minister of Health, Michalis Hatzipantela, commented on the developments, while at the same time, he expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the findings.
