Representatives of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia exchanged experiences and approaches to paying for medical care

The agenda of the next meeting of the CIS Network of Institutes for Public Health and Healthcare Digital Transformation, held in July, included various approaches to paying for medical care, as well as options for their improvement.

Alexander Semenov, Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Medical Technologies, Informatization, Management and Economics of Healthcare of the Republic of Belarus, in his speech spoke about the approaches to financing medical care in the Republic of Belarus, noting the fact that they are largely based on the principles of financing systems that were typical for most CIS countries – this is a budgetary financing system with state social standards. Currently, a pilot project is underway to implement a system of clinical cost groups (CCG) – result-oriented budgeting of healthcare organizations. As a task for the next five years, Belarusian specialists set themselves the creation of a concept of interregional centers, including mechanisms for their financing.

Mirlan Atakulov, Head of the Budget Planning Department of the MHI Fund under the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, shared his country's experience in financing medical care, noting the use of the CCG method, considering the actual costs of healthcare organization as the basis for medical care financing, with a regular review of existing indicators. 

Davron Pirov, Scientific Secretary of the Tajik Research Institute of Preventive Medicine, told about per capita financing introduction throughout the country.

Many countries agree that a number of difficulties in controlling the quality of medical care can be addressed only with the development of healthcare digitalization.

Olga Obukhova, RIH Deputy Director for Health Economics, told about the path that the Russian Federation has taken in applying approaches to paying for medical care, and presented options for improving payment methods for medical care. It seems important here to maintain a balance between paying for essential medical care to patients, around whom the entire healthcare system in Russia is built, and paying for the activities of medical organizations providing this care, considering resource capabilities.

All participants noted discussion importance and expressed their willingness to participate in further events.