25 January 2023 17:11

A media tour of state medical facilities was organized in the district of Jalilabad

A media tour of the district of Jalilabad was organized by the State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance (Agency). As part of the trip, the participants of the media tour – representatives of media and non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives of the National Medical Insurance Fund of the Republic of Lithuania (Twinning project) – visited the Jalilabad District Central Hospital and the Jalilabad Treatment and Diagnostic Center. The purpose of the tour was to familiarize visitors with implementation of mandatory health insurance at Jalilabad District Central Hospital.

Hikmat Ibrahimli, Head of the Agency’s Medical Planning Department said that the availability of modern healthcare infrastructure and various specialty doctors are important factors contributing to the successful implementation of mandatory health insurance. “Implementation of mandatory health insurance, being the basis of healthcare reform, plays a major role in bringing healthcare services in line with modern standards and increasing the quality of health care delivery.”

H.Ibrahimli added that after introduction of mandatory health insurance the number of requests for medical services to hospitals has sharply increased: “Mandatory health insurance was introduced in the district of Jalilabad in 2021. As the year of 2020 coincided with coronavirus pandemic, I will make comparison between the 2021 and 2022. Compared with 2021, the number of hospital visits has doubled in 2022 (from 57 999 to 122 515). Based on visits, 335 910 outpatient services and 52 500 inpatient services were provided for the past two years. In total, 4170 surgical operations were performed."

The director of Jalilabad District Central Hospital Elnur Azadkhanov said that as part of the structural changes Jalilabad Treatment and Diagnostic Center was attached to the District Central Hospital: “Division called “Family Health Center” functions at the hospital to strengthen primary health care. A triage system was introduced at the emergency medical care division to improve the quality of urgent medical care for prioritizing treatment of patients according to the severity of their conditions.”

The director said that after introduction of mandatory health insurance Central Laboratory Section, equipped with fourth generation equipment, put into operation at the hospital:  “Over 700 laboratory tests became accessible under Benefit Package. The five units which operate here (Biochemistry, Immunoassay, Hematology, Microbiology, Immunology) will provide services to the population of Jalilabad, Salyan, Neftchala and Bilasuvar districts.”

Moreover, complex, and expensive surgical operations (stomach and bowel resections, liver, and posttraumatic thoracic surgeries etc.) have been performed since implementation of mandatory health insurance. An intensive care unit was equipped with modern devices.  Two new generation ultrasound devices were purchased for Diagnostic Radiology Division.

It was noted that the healthcare facility consists of 13 divisions and 1 section. The hospital with 200 beds consists of the following divisions: Surgery, Childbirth and Gynecology, Therapy, Pediatric, Dialysis, Infection, Radiology, and other divisions.

The head of Marketing and Public Relations Department of the Agency Aynura Ahmadova said that the salaries of healthcare workers have significantly increased after introduction of mandatory health insurance: “The purpose was to provide doctors with suitable salaries, to assess their performance and increase their interest for professional development. The changes related with salary increase were made in the relevant order more than five times.  After the introduction of mandatory health insurance, monthly fixed and performance-based incentives have been given to doctors. Thus, the monthly fixed incentives of doctors in about 40 specialties were increased. As a result, the salary paid to specialty doctors is at least 1000 manats together with the base salary and fixed incentive allowances. In addition, performance-based incentives are issued to doctors. The average amount of performance-based incentive at Jalilabad DCH reached 970 manats in 2022 as compared with 650 manats in 2021. As I mentioned earlier, on the top of this amount doctor gets monthly tariff salary and monthly fixed incentive allowances. I can also mention that there were doctors whose performance-based incentives exceeded 4000 manats in 2021 and 6000 manats in 2022,”— she said.

Afterwards journalists were informed about the work undertaken at the Jalilabad branch of the Agency. Ilgar Gurbanov, head of the branch said that the branch was established in 2021 and covers administrative territories of Jalilabad, Bilasuvar, Salyan, Neftchala and Jabrayil districts:

“The branch supports the implementation of mandatory health insurance by carrying out coordination between the Agency and healthcare facilities.  We investigate the appeals of citizens and take the necessary measures. A total of 159 written and nearly 100 oral appeals were answered by the branch. In addition, the branch organized events with participation of 746 persons in 5 districts to support awareness raising campaign about mandatory health insurance.

As part of the media tour, the media representatives underwent an ophthalmological examination at the Jalilabad District Central Hospital.