February 17, 2010


The European best practices in healthcare and the healthcare reform were discussed in the parliament by deputies and representatives of the executive branch of government and non-governmental organizations. On February 17, 2010, the National Assembly hosted a roundtable on the topics: European best practices in hospital care and Patient safety. It was coorganized by the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Dr. Lachezar Ivanov and the Minister of Health, Dr. Bozidar Nanev.

The structure of health care financing in Bulgaria is reversed - the hospital care sector funding is many times more than the outpatient, said during the discussion, Dr. Lachezar Ivanov. He added that in financial terms there was no proof that preventive medicine is more important. The chairman of the parliamentary health committee said that by mid-March there will be enough data to show how many of the clinical protocols paid by the Insurance Fund, are underfinanced (valued at a lower price). In his words, the thorough examination will show that the shortage in health care funding amounts to more than BGN 2 billion.

Dr. Lachezar Ivanov also pointed to the lack of clear criteria for hospital admission as being a serious problem of the Bulgarian health care system. General practioners are those who direct patients to hospitals, not specialists in the particular medical field, he said.

“If we do not develop a good model for health insurance, there would not be a good health care system”, the Health Minister Bozhidar Nanev told the audience. According to him, the health care reform should focus on the quality of medical services and on the methodology of their pricing(valuation). In the opinion of other experts, it is necessary to assess precisely the consumers’ and population’s needs of health services and the number of hospitals.