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394 Economic crisis, health systems and health in Europe: country experience
Overhead costs: restructuring the Ministry of Health and purchasing agencies
• Transfer and integration of the health divisions of the main social
insurance funds into a new organization, the EOPYY, which would act as
the health system's purchaser of primary, secondary and tertiary services
(2011).
• Introduction of a centralized procurement procedure for medical
products, with fines of up to €50 000 if the approved budget deviates
from the contract (2011).
• The new government enacted a law to establish a new architecture for
municipalities and regions (known as the Kallikratis Plan) (2010). Under
the reorganization, regional health authorities are expected to play a
much greater role in managing and organizing the human resources of
the NHS. However, to date the Kallikratis Plan has not managed to fulfil
these expectations.
Provider infrastructure and capital investment
• Development of a national Health and Welfare Map (since 2010). This
is a data and index system designed to: map and record citizens' health
status; and assess the adequacy, effectiveness and efficiency of health
services.
• Merging of hospitals resulted in a reduction in the number of hospital
beds by 18% (2011). However, operating expenditures (e.g. consumables,
overheads, security, catering) showed a considerable increase in many
hospitals; the immediate causes are not known.
• Hospitals owned by social health insurance funds and the NHS hospitals
were merged, putting them all under the ownership of the latter (2011).
• New measures in the 2011 Health Law allowed the expansion of private
clinics to build new infrastructure; develop new departments, units and
laboratories; and to increase their stock of hospital beds, within certain
defined limits in growth rates.
• The scope of the electronic prescription system was expanded to diagnostic
examinations and inpatient care (since 2011). The main insurance funds
are obliged to use the system.
Priority setting or protocols to change access to treatments, coordination
of care and patterns of use
• The EOPYY was made the country's main body responsible for
coordinating primary care, regulating contracting with health care
providers and setting quality and efficiency standards, with the broader