Doctors could be paid in future by their performance

Romanian doctors could be paid in the future based on performance criteria and not as budget people.

This is the intention of the Ministry of Health, which provided new details today about a draft in this regard.

The Minister of Health spoke for the first time also about a series of project implementation.

Stopping the migration of doctors is the intended objective.

Also today was launched a campaign that aims to increase the number of medical staff in Romania.

Over 14,000 doctors have left the country from 2007 to present.

Romania has a migration rate among doctors of 9 percent, while the European average is only 2.5 percent, according to the Doctors’ College.

This is only one of the reasons why the health minister wants to change the way doctors and nurses are paid in our country.

"Let's make a system where medical expertise and professionalism and performance are fundamental criteria by which they are paid.

"Perhaps, as we proposed, in late May, early June, to have the final form that can be subject to further debate and proceed to trial, say, in the Romanian society of such a draft ", said Eugen Nicolaescu.

The prospects are not at all encouraging.

65 percent of medical students intend to leave Romania

Studies show that nearly 65 percent of medical students in the country intend to leave Romania after graduation.

The reasons given are related to what young people call lack of respect for the profession, financial difficulties and lack of opportunities for improvement.

Stemming the exodus of doctors is the objective of the Council’s campaign launched today by Foreign Investors with the Ministry of Health support.

Starting from physicians’ need to be recognized and respected as professionals, a first draft is to present the campaign website of life stories of young doctors who accepted the Romanian health system challenges.

Another project will provide ethics training among health professionals.

The ultimate objective of the campaign is to increase the number of Romanian doctors from 2.4 to 1,000 inhabitants, as it is currently, to 2.6 by 2015.

Translated by Alexandra-Diana Mircea
MTTLC, Bucharest University