Hospital directors must pay fee for information on health care funding

Hospital directors are required to pay a zł. 490 fee to register for a conference, organized by a private fund, at which they can find out how the National Health Fund (NFZ) will pay for medical services in 2004. The conference agenda includes speeches from NFZ head Mirosław Manicki and other Fund employees responsible for preparing the rules for contracting the medical services. "Everyone wants to find out what the NFZ will be buying and how this will be paid for, but it should have organized the seminar on its own, as hospitals have other expenditures if they have money," said a hospital director. "One of the major problems for the NFZ is remuneration for services exceeding the scheduled limit," said sources. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A4) M.M.