From the 1st of January 2014, patients admitted to a hospital of the National Healthcare System (ESY), will have to pass first from the accounting office to pay a ticket of 25 euros, according to the new implementing law of the memorandum.
Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis explained on August 20 during a press conference, that the law will be implemented automatically from the beginning of 2014 and all patients admitted to hospitals will have to participate in the hospitalization cost with 25 euros.
According to estimates of the competent officials, this measure would yield up to 114 million euros per year, but now the leadership of the ministry considers that this is a difficult goal.
However, Georgiadis mentioned that this commitment to the memorandum will be a matter of negotiation between the Ministry of Health and the Troika, with the argument that the expenditures of the ESY have been reduced by 80 million euros.
During today’s press conference, the Health Minister lodged serious complaints against doctors who over-prescribe drugs.
The Health Minister announced that after hospital administrators, the controls of the origin of wealth will extend to doctors subscribing for the National Organization for the Provision of Health Services (EOPYY).
“For many months, we have seen doctors directing all prescriptions to specific pharmacies, prescribing 75% of the drugs of a specific company and over-prescribing two to three times more than the average prescriptions made by physicians of the same specialty,” the minister said.
He also said that the doctors making records of prescriptions of drugs and tests will be isolated by the EOPYY auditors and their names will be sent to the competent financial authorities, for further investigation of their incomes.
The issuing of a circular by EOPYY aims at the same direction of transparency and control of doctors. According to the circular’s instructions, doctors are obliged to prescribe generic drugs and not brand names.
The minister mentioned that doctors who will continue prescribing the brand name will be withdrawn from the electronic prescribing system.
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