Recommendations to equalise the working environment of private and public healthcare centres

Í Recent media coverage Regarding the position of private healthcare centres vis-à-vis state-run ones, reference has been made to the Competition Authority's recommendations to the Ministry of Health from 2017.

The aforementioned recommendations were put forward in a letter to the Minister of Health in October 2017., which is available here . The letter discusses the importance of users being able to move between health centres, thereby creating an incentive for the centres to improve service, efficiency and cost-effectiveness within the system.

The letter also emphasises the importance of ensuring a level playing field in those areas where competition has been established between public and private sector companies. The letter mentions several points that need to be addressed:

• It must be ensured that Landspítalinn does not discriminate between parties in the pricing of diagnostic services.
• The discrimination inherent in the fact that public healthcare institutions are not required to purchase patient insurance from insurance companies, in the same way as private institutions, is discussed. The measures proposed by the National Insurance Institution to equalise such a cost disparity are also highlighted.
• It is noted that public electronic patient record systems should be designed in such a way that it is easy for institutions to utilise other software solutions to improve services.
• Emphasis is placed on the importance of the tax system not discriminating between competitors based on their form of business.

In light of this, the Competition Authority issued the following recommendations to the minister:

1. A general review should be carried out of the different conditions under which public and private healthcare centres operate. The Minister for Health should, amongst other things, advocate for the different situations faced by public and private healthcare centres regarding patient insurance to be reviewed, and for measures to be taken to level the playing field in this respect.
2. Ensure that Landspítali does not discriminate between business partners when pricing its research services.
3. A clear and defined framework will be established for the relationships and contracts between the Capital Area Health Service and private healthcare centres.
4. That the tax treatment of public and private healthcare centres, respectively, should be as equal as possible.