The debts of the Health Insurance Fund significantly burden the functioning of the system, announced today the Minister of Health Dragoslav Šćekić.
"Given that the state must first of all be responsible for the health system and the health of citizens, I held a constructive meeting with the Minister of Finance on that topic, and through the new budget planning and rebalancing, serious attention will be paid to the health system, which was not the case in the previous period ", pointed out Šćekić.
The Ministry of Health announced that Šćekić met with Daniela Gašparikova, the permanent representative of UNDP in Montenegro.
On May 13, "Vijesti" announced that the debt of the Health Insurance Fund is at a historic maximum, as it grew by an additional 20 million euros in one year, despite the announced reforms and savings.
Related Articles
The Ministry of Health announced that at the meeting between Šćekić and Gašparikova, it was announced that "cooperation between UNDP and the Ministry of Health is traditionally improved through the implementation of joint projects, especially in the field of digitization, and will greatly contribute to the development of the Montenegrin health system, and therefore to the preservation of health citizens".
"Despite the numerous obligations and the complex situation due to the pandemic, the Ministry of Health aims to make serious strides in terms of improving the quality of providing health services to citizens," pointed out Šćekić, expressing the expectation that UNDP will remain a reliable partner of the Montenegrin health system in the future.
The announcement adds that Gašparikova informed the minister that as part of the new cooperation program framework between UNDP and Montenegro for the period 2023-2027, the continuation of cooperation with the Ministry of Health is foreseen.
"Relying on the existing project to strengthen the healthcare system in Montenegro and the main component of informatization of the Clinical Center of Montenegro, UNDP will continue work on the introduction of digital technologies in other domains of healthcare as well. The results of the analysis carried out during the first phase of the project related to the development of the National Integrated of the Health Information System (ISIS) indicate that it is necessary to establish a comprehensive ISIS in order to improve the entire infrastructure in the health sector. and defining strategic priorities, and it will have a positive impact on the quality of service provision for the citizens of Montenegro," Gašparikova said.
She said that the UNDP office supported the development and implementation of a software platform for monitoring the procurement and consumption of medical and protective equipment, as well as the Digital COVID Certificate.
Šćekić said that for the health system, all the projects that are implemented with the support of UNDP are very important and expressed the hope that on the basis of these projects, we will make serious strides in the development of the health system.
"In the process of reforming the health system, which is a priority, help through the process of digitization and strengthening the IT sector is very important. The current level of the IT sector in health care could not provide full support and respond to all the needs for the functioning of the health system. Fast implementation of all these projects will significantly contribute to improving the health system, and the segment of the project related to the Clinical Center of Montenegro is especially important to us, as the largest and only tertiary health institution, which is of great importance for the entire health system," Šćekić said.
He emphasized that "digitalization and a high-quality information system is very important, especially at this moment, when we are facing a change in long waiting lists for specialist examinations and diagnostics".
"Waiting lists are something that currently affects our citizens the most, and which, in addition to the human factor, is also related to the IT sector, because it obviously cannot provide system control, nor recognize all shortcomings and use certain opportunities to reduce waiting lists , and organized the scheduling system in the right way. This is one of our priorities, which we are working intensively to resolve," Šćekić said.
He said that "the sole interest of the Ministry of Health is to improve public health, which is a serious and long process, but, as he said, the most important thing is to create a good foundation, in order to build on sound foundations in the future. The Minister emphasized that aspiration and cooperation and quality partnership with private healthcare institutions, but not at the expense of public healthcare".
The announcement also states that Šćekić announced the continuation of the implementation of projects that were suspended for some reason in the previous period, primarily the construction of the Infectious Diseases Clinic, the Mental Health Clinic, the Health Center facility in Pogdorica, the reconstruction of hematology, PET scanner and others.
Bonus video:
