Ladies and Gentlemen!
On behalf of the organizers:

CEESTAHC,

the Kozminski University

we heartily invite you to take part in:

The Symposium which will take place on 22-23 November 2010 in Cracow, in the Auditorium Maximum hall of the Jagiellonian University.

Preliminary programme

The EBHC Symposium, which is now organized for the fifth time, is a unique educational initiative for participants from Poland and other Central and Eastern Europe countries. It is an opportunity of meeting experts from Europe and the whole world. It also gives a possibility to freely exchange opinions with representatives of ministries and health funds as well as European medical and business environments. Last year we had the pleasure of organizing the 4th EBHC Symposium in Cracow, which resulted in exchanging experiences, establishing contacts and commencing cooperation between Polish and foreign scientific communities. In 2009 the Symposium was attended by ca. 300 HTA specialists, managers and science representatives from over a dozen countries. A significant part of them were world-renowned experts representing European and international organizations dealing with pricing, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and quality of medical services.

The main motive of this year’s Symposium is the relation between health technology assessment (HTA) and modern systems of additional insurances. HTA is a basis for creating offers for complementary insurances competing on health services. Regardless of the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of treatment and diagnostic methods, it is hard to imagine a rational approach to creating policies comprising health services not included in the guaranteed services basket and/or, to which access within the basic contributions is limited. The precision of estimations within clinical, economical and financial analyses influences the risk connected to policy sales, and without a high quality HTA report the business risk of the insurer is huge. Uncertainty of estimations is inversely proportional to the risk of a given policy, and therefore it influences its price and market attractiveness. First policies of complementary insurances or mixed insurances: supplementary-complementary, as long as they will be developed on the basis of reliable analyses will become reference policies for further products on the market.

Additional complementary insurances competing on health services can to a high degree contribute financially to the system, and their introduction will facilitate access to guaranteed services to owners of the obligatory policy, thus relieving the National Health Fund. It should be underlined that additional insurances seem to be the only real alternative in Poland, or even a last resort for this health care system which bears numerous burdens. Currently there is no consent either on increasing the basic health insurance contribution or, what is even less possible, on reducing health services which are included in the guaranteed services basket. Other mechanisms, such as co-payment or additional payments to alternative services in a given indication are not only illegal in Poland, pursuant to the applicable provisions, but also socially unacceptable. That is why a HTA-based system of additional complementary insurances seems to be the only real alternative.

Allowing of the development of insurances against lack of access to services which are not included in the package and to which the NHF monopsony does not ensure sufficient access will not only introduce desired competition on market principles but will also be a significant recapitalisation of the whole medical services system, and therefore an improvement of the service providers’ financial situation. On the 5th Symposium principles of creating a modern, HTA principles-based offer of complementary insurances and the role of additional insurances in the evolution of health care systems will be presented. In the agenda of the 5th Symposium, an important point comprises the issues related to ethical bases of health care systems reforms and consequences of limiting access to basic health services in the Society. Furthermore, during the plenary session which will open the Symposium, the President of the Agency for Health Technology Assessment together with invited guests will present experiences related to creating an institution, which has its legal basis in the act of law, dealing with HTA in Poland. A coda of the 5th Symposium will be a summary of Watch Health Care Foundation’s experiences in monitoring the system and accessibility to health services in Poland.

The subject matter of the Symposium will be presented by renowned practitioners from all over the world. The scientific programme of the Symposium will be presented during two days within six thematic sessions. The adopted form of the Symposium assumes time for a discussion with foreign experts, which will allow participants to interact in a wider scope than it usually takes place in case of such conferences. Communication will be streamlined by a simultaneous interpretation of all presentations into Polish and English. On behalf of all individuals and institutions involved in the organization of the Symposium we cordially invite you to participate in this significant for health economics event.