Chairwoman of the Association of Physicians in Iceland, Birna Jónsdóttir, said there is not much room to rationalize at Iceland’s Landspítali national hospital without compromising service for patients.
Aerial view of Reykjavík. The Landspítali hospital is in the front of the picture. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
An extensive cut to funds attributed to Landspítali is planned this year, which translates to reducing the hospital’s expenses by ISK 2.6 billion (USD 23 million, EUR 18 million), ruv.is reports.
Director of Landspítali Hulda Gunnarsdóttir emphasized in an interview with RÚV last night, that the service level of the hospital will not decrease and that patient safety will not be jeopardize as a result of the cut.
However, Jónsdóttir stated that a ten percent cut cannot be achieved otherwise.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Ögmundur Jónasson is looking at different ways to save in Iceland’s healthcare system.
The minister has issued new regulations for subsidy because of patient expenses for medicine, which includes a higher subsidy for those unemployed, ruv.is reports.
Jónasson also encourages physicians to write subscriptions for less expensive types of medicine, which, according to his calculations, can save approximately ISK 1 billion (USD 9 million, EUR 7 million) per year.
For example, physicians often recommend the use of Esomeprazole for stomach problems. One hundred doses of the medicine cost ISK 19,300 (USD 169, EUR 131) while one hundred doses of a less expensive medicine, which has the same effect, Omerprazol, cost only ISK 7,000 (USD 61, EUR 48).
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