ARMENIAN SPECIALISTS FOR NEW ORDER OF OUT-PATIENT CARE

ARKA
14 Sept 2007

YEREVAN, September 14. /ARKA/. Armenian specialists welcome the new
order of out-patient care of Armenian citizens, which allows citizens
to choose doctors. Head of the Medical Aid Organizations Department,
RA Ministry of Health, Vahan Poghosyan reported that the new system
will enhance the efficiency of doctors’ work.

"The level of doctors’ work will certainly be raised as medical
specialists will be interested in attracting clients. It is on the
number of patients using individual doctors’ services that doctors’
salary will depend," he said. Poghosyan said that AMD 5,000 ($14.7)
are annually transferred from the state budget for one patient using
the services of the medical institution.

In her turn, Gayane Gharagebakyan, Head of the Public Health Reforms
and Registration Team, USAID Primary Healthcare Program, pointed out
the importance of the system.

The innovations will contribute to the development of Armenia’s
healthcare system, she said. She pointed out that Armenia’s citizens
can choose not only doctors, but also, from October 1, 2007, a medical
establishment.

Gharagebakyan thinks that some visitors to out-patient clinics will
continue preferring the doctors that have been treating them until now,
as they have all the information of their patients.

In April 2007, a system allowing citizens to choose doctors, as well
as a new order of registration, was introduced in Armenia. The process
is to be completed this October-November.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress