Česky
One-day care center
"It has annoyed me for thirty years as a radiologist that the same-day medicine that started in the United States and other countries - it is very strong in Germany - is not in the Czech Republic. I have tried to do everything I could, together with my colleagues, through professional societies, to make this type of medicine commonly available in our country, but this has not been successful. So when I became Minister of Health, one of the first things I started to do and solve as part of the healthcare reform was to strengthen same-day medicine," says Minister Vlastimil Válek.
Until recently, overnight medicine was performed here and there - AKESO has performed around eight thousand such procedures at the moment - but it was not supported by economic incentives. But now the committee of the professional surgical society has been working with the Ministry of Health for a year and a half, looking for ways to strengthen same-day medicine. The orthopaedic society is doing a similar thing, and gynaecologists are also working together on the issue. Experts are thus identifying procedures for which there is a safe solution within overnight care.
Space for the most challenging procedures
Meanwhile, same-day medicine has received a boost under the reimbursement decree, which has finally given the green light to its development. The reimbursement decree for next year, which will be ready by the end of October, also seeks to further support it and thus contribute to its expansion.
"I want overnight medicine to become a strong, solid, integral part of either specialised centres, such as here in Beroun, or in city, district, regional and university hospitals by the end of the term. It just needs to be clearly and precisely defined in which indications, for which patients and under which conditions. This must then also be covered by the insurance company," emphasises Válek. "The reimbursement decree gives the centres the certainty and incentive that it is the long-term intention of the Ministry of Health to support, develop and finance same-day medicine on the basis of expert decisions," adds Válek.
This approach is very much welcomed by experts, not least because it will have a positive impact on even the most challenging procedures. "The reimbursement decree has taken into account and regulated procedures in day care and has significantly expanded their spectrum. On behalf of the entire professional society, I thank the concentration of major procedures, especially onco-surgery, into centres for finally having come to a conclusion. By supporting day-care centres, space in operating theatres will be freed up for complex, long and demanding onco-surgical procedures and waiting times will be reduced," says Julius Örhalmi, chairman of the Coloproctology Section of the Czech Surgical Society, who also has an office in the hospital in Horovice, which is part of AKESO.
Background for the management of complications
According to Válek, the AKESO One-Day Care Centre is unique in its complexity, offering a very wide range of procedures in a number of specialties, as well as everything from diagnosis, indication and pre-operative examinations through the procedure itself to rehabilitation - with ICU and ARO available in case of complications. In this, AKESO should also be an example to other facilities.
"If any complication occurs, I have a surgeon, excellent anaesthesiologists, a laboratory and an MRI behind me," points out Petr Nepraš, deputy head of the Arthroscopy Centre in Beroun.
AKESO has long experience with same-day care, but is now taking it up on a large scale. While so far it has focused mainly on orthopaedic and gynaecological procedures, now the spectrum should be expanded to include coloproctology, urology and others (we wrote more here). Waiting times should be around several weeks.
"I would like to see such a concentration all over the country," emphasizes Válek. The ministry's support for same-day medicine should continue, he said. "Some societies, such as orthopaedic and gynaecological ones, have already defined it perfectly, others are almost perfecting it, such as surgical ones. For other societies, we are yet to have this debate," the minister said.
Meanwhile, AKESO has benefited from the ministry's support, so the number of procedures within the framework of one-day care should reach about six thousand this year. However, thanks to a 350 million investment in five operating theatres and 75 beds in maximum comfort, the capacity could be 12 to 15 thousand procedures per year in the future.
Let us recall that AKESO Holding also opened a Mental Rehabilitation Centre before the summer, and its innovations do not end with the Day Care Centre either. "In the near future we will open a data centre for the healthcare sector and I hope that in two years we will open a new hospital in Hořovice," plans Sotirios Zavalianis, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AKESO Healthcare Holding.
Source: website Zdravotnický deník, Michaela Koubová, 6 October 2023