Private clinics ready to work under MGP, propose revising approaches to forming its packages
Private medical institutions are ready to work under the medical guarantees program (MGP) and propose revising approaches to forming some packages, which will reduce the cost of medical services and optimize budget expenditures.
Members of the Association of Private Healthcare Institutions announced this at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
Deputy Director General of the medical laboratory Synevo Mykola Skavronsky noted that since the beginning of the war, the laboratory has not stopped working, despite the fact that during 2022 Synevo lost more than 30 departments in different regions.
"It is quite disappointing to see that recovery programs exist only for state or municipal medicine. At the same time, the fact that private medicine also suffered from the war is completely ignored. But, unlike state and municipal medicine, all private ones are recovering and continue to work using their own or borrowed funds, and not using budget funds or assistance," he said.
Commenting on the first experience of cooperation between Synevo and the NHSU in 2024, Skavronsky noted that the laboratory's entry into the MGP "became a kind of spotlight that highlighted the situation with the laboratory industry in Ukraine as a whole."
Skavronsky noted that in basic prices, Synevo made tests for about UAH 528 million, in the price list, the cost of the tests was about UAH 200 million, while the NHSU paid UAH 44 million for them.
"We asked the NHSU to allocate a laboratory package that would be transparent and understandable, where it would be clear what tests and, most importantly, which doctors can prescribe them and in what quantities. Because it turned out that there are no restrictions at all, doctors prescribed tests that should not have been prescribed. It is not the laboratory that should decide what to do and what not, there should be a system that simply does not allow something wrong to be prescribed," he said.
According to Skavronsky, one of the most popular tests funded by the budget in 2024 was vitamin D tests, of which the laboratory has done about 100,000.
"I don't think that Ukraine is such a rich country that it can cover vitamin D tests in such volumes at taxpayers' expense. But doctors prescribe them. Why doctors prescribe them is more a question for doctors and the pharmaceutical industry," he emphasized.
Skavronsky also noted that the implementation of the proposals developed by the laboratory allowed "not only not to increase the tariff, but even to reduce it."
"We would be ready, as a private laboratory, to work with tariffs 15% lower, but subject to clear criteria. In recent years, we have heard that money follows the patient, but during the last year, especially the first quarter, we saw that money does not follow the patient," he noted.
For his part, Vadym Zukin, Operations Director of the Leleka Multidisciplinary Medical Center, recalled that Leleka is the only medical center in Ukraine that has international accreditation from JCI, and the clinic received its latest confirmation at the end of 2024.
"Literally two months before the start of the full-scale invasion, the Minister of Health came to us with his deputy and we discussed how these standards could be implemented for other market players. But now it looks like the state is sailing on its own ship, and we are trying to catch up with the Ministry of Health on some boats and convince it of something," he explained the situation.
Zukin emphasized that "the state should understand that it is more profitable for it to become a purchaser of medical services, rather than their supplier, and not to invest in fixed assets, since private players already have these funds."
He also expressed the opinion that the NHSU should conclude longer-term contracts for participation in the MGP.
For her part, the medical director of the Dobrobut medical network, Oleksandra Mashkevych, noted that the network is a major taxpayer, has 3,000 employees, including 1,300 doctors. At the same time, 131 employees have been mobilized from Dobrobut, but the clinic continues to pay them salaries.
"We have been identified by the Ministry of Health as critical infrastructure. In 2024, we invested almost UAH 500 million in our development, most of which we spent on our energy efficiency. I would like to note that investments that go into the energy efficiency of state and municipal institutions are not made at their own expense, but at the expense of the state or donors or sponsors. And we do this on our own," she said.
At the same time, Mashkevych emphasized that the cooperation of Dobrobut with the NHSU is "quite interesting." In particular, the clinic was contracted for a package of assisted reproductive technologies, within the framework of which 300 patients completed treatment cycles and almost 45% of women already have a confirmed pregnancy status.
"The tariff for this service was too low for us, we worked at a loss, understanding that in this way we were supporting the state, in fact, we gave the state the opportunity to use our capacities in order to provide free medical services. We had long rounds of negotiations with the NHSU, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, they heard us and increased the tariff. This tariff does not cover all our expenses, however, we continue to work with it," she said.
Commenting on plans for working with the NHSU, Mashkevych noted that Dobrobut plans to expand its participation in the 2025 MGP and is waiting for the NHSU decision on contracting for new packages.
At the same time, Mashkevych called the opportunity for private institutions to use the state unified portal of medical vacancies, which was launched by the Ministry of Health, a positive decision.
The press conference was organized by the Interfax-Ukraine agency and the Association of Private Healthcare Institutions.