SLOVAKIA’S HEALTH-Care Oversight Authority (ÚDZS) and the German Institute for Payment Systems in Hospitals (InEK) have disclosed the final contract price for development and implementation of the so-called Diagnosis-Related-Groups (DRG) system in Slovakia. The ÚDZS also posted the contract on its website and on the Central Register of Contracts, the SITA newswire reported on January 11.
“The contractual price amounting to €1.666 million including VAT remains unchanged from the price originally set out in the contract,” said ÚDZS spokesperson Radoslava Muchová, as quoted by SITA, adding that the sum is fixed and does not involve any risk of additional costs.
The ÚDZS initially refused to make the contract public, saying that the price would remain a trade secret at InEK’s request. The Justice Ministry expressed its disapproval and questioned the validity of the contract because, under a Slovak law in force since January 1, 2011, all contracts signed by state bodies must be published on the internet in order to become valid.
The purpose of the contract is to develop a new payment system between hospitals and health insurers over the next three years. It includes consulting services from InEK for specific know-how to develop the Slovak DRG system, strategic consulting, a training programme by InEK, and assistance in creation of cost calculations for particular kinds of hospitalisation.
Currently, payments to hospitals for particular kinds of treatment depend upon agreements between health insurers and the hospitals. The new system will base health insurers’ payments on diagnosis groups.
