The ultimate goal is to identify and address the weaknesses in the National Health Scheme (Gesy) in an attempt to make it efficient for the benefit of the patients and their rights, Health Minister Popi Kanari said, addressing a Cyprus HealthCare Conference in Nicosia, on Thursday.

She spoke in detail about the challenges ahead of us including the control and supervision of the system to abolish cases of mismanagement and exploitation, both by the providers and by the beneficiaries.

The Minister referred to the need to differentiate provider compensation models based on quality criteria and performance indicators, promoting incentives and establishing clinical guidelines with the gradual development of treatment protocols and leveraging software applications for enhancing speed and accuracy in identifying such abuses of the system.

According to Kanari, there is also the challenge of sufficiency of pharmaceutical and medical technology products and access to innovative medicines. She said that Health Insurance Organization (OAY) is also faced with many challenges and has to assess its expected global budget and the increasing pre-calculated General State Contribution.

Regarding the State Health Services Organization (OKYpY), she said that the greatest challenge is financial and administrative autonomy of state hospitals. She said that OKYpY needs to intensify its actions to this end, adding that the implementation of more effective organizational and control mechanisms is imperative and that it has undertaken the implementation of development projects in state hospitals with funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan amounting to approximately €47.7 million.

Kanari said that the Ministry is here to promote legislative regulations, strategic planning in health matters based on international scientific standards as well as local data, accreditation of hospitals, replacement and purchase of new innovative medical technological equipment and long-term evaluation of health needs and the adequacy of available resources to cover them.

She assured that the goal is to provide services that are focused on the people and serve not just disease management, but above all, health promotion.