Minister Tikaradze presents healthcare reforms
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, October 30
Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia Ekaterine Tikaradze held a presentation of the planned reform in the field of health care - "It is time for joint right steps."
The Minister outlined several planned health reforms, including the one concerning the transition to a new funding system.
As said at the presentation, the new system, based on European standards, provides equalization of tariffs for all clinics under the universal health care program. It is a proven pricing system that puts institutions on equal footing, ensuring market regulation and quality management. This initiative is to form the basis of a nationwide standard and quality requirement that is primarily focused on patient interest. Medical institutions that are selectively included in the universal health care program undertake to provide services to beneficiaries at a uniform rate set by the state.
As explained by the minister, the need for reform has been driven by many factors. One of the most important issues is the high number of out-of-pocket payments despite unprecedented government spending. Although the rate has fallen from 73% to 55% over the last 7 years, this is not a satisfactory result as the population continues to bear the burden of paying for medical services and medicines.
The Minister talked about another important reform that concerns the primary healthcare system. According to her, there is a need to strengthen preventive services, increase the role and burden of family and village physicians, develop a family doctor visit, and culture of planned medical check-ups.
Tikaradze stressed the importance of introducing modern technologies in Georgia that have been especially popular in the western world in recent years and will significantly change the way everyone cares about their health. This is a completely new direction for Georgian medicine - telemedicine-based primary care equipment, which enables easy, short-term medical research, patient data retrieval and retention, early detection of diseases. The issue is important not only to the individual patient but also to the state, which should define health policy and strategy and constantly update data and statistics.
The introduction of telemedicine into primary health care provides the opportunity to reduce the need for urgent care, which, according to international data, reduces the number of hospital cases and its costs by 30%. One of the most important capabilities of telemedicine is remote communication based on artificial intelligence. With the help of a special video call program, a physician can advise and diagnose a patient. Ekaterine Tikaradze inspected the first telemedicine device in Georgia on October 28.
The Minister also emphasized the medical education. She said the ministry has already taken an important step in supporting all areas where there is a shortage of medical staff.
"The state fully funds the tuition of residents who choose to work in the field. Also, we will promote the education of the international standard at the national level. This will begin with the strengthening of university clinics. All residents who report high performance in teaching will be encouraged. They will be able to build up the state in leading overseas clinics, which will be a major investment in the state's human capital," stated the minister.
Tikaradze spoke about the necessity of having a specific strategy.
“First and foremost, we work to regulate prices and control over medication overdose. In the quality component, we will focus on drug registration and market entry in the country, the essential basis of which will be the GMP Certificate. There are additional requirements for drug registration, which will guarantee quality and safety,” she said.
The Minister also drew attention to the infrastructure projects which are already being implemented. This refers to the construction and rehabilitation of about 400 outpatient clinics. According to her, by the end of the project in 2024, there will be 831 fully equipped outpatient clinics in the country.
The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Georgia, members of the Government and Parliament, the Mayor of Tbilisi, international partners, as well as representatives of the medical and insurance sectors.
