Supreme Audit Office: Strategic Management of Health Care Needs to Be Improved

Bratislava, April 17 (TASR) - The strategic management of the Slovak health-care system needs to be improved, the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) recommends on the basis of audits carried out this year and the two previous years, according to a document acknowledged by the government on Wednesday. "The long-term unsatisfactory results of the Slovak health-care sector point to serious systemic problems in the functioning of this sector. One of the factors behind this is the underfunding of the Slovak health-care system, but it's clear that this isn't the only reason. A similarly important factor is the lack of strategic management of the sector," said the auditors. According to them, the audits also showed other shortcomings, including insufficient implementation of the DRG system, insufficient quality and availability of health-care data and persistent indebtedness of health-care facilities. am/mcs