Abstract
The healthcare system in Poland has undergone a series of changes for many decades. For many years the entire system has been in a state of drift. The government has searched for a solution to this situation and a way out of the âpath dependenceâ. Regardless of political aspects, centralisation has numerous disadvantages from the institutional point of view. In spite of the neo-classical approach in healthcare economics prevails in the literature, some scholars and practitioners propose alternative approaches, including institutional economics and its successor, New Institutional Economics. The approach emphasises the institutional environment of healthcare and take consideration of many different stakeholders, including informal institutions, thereby provides a broader view of the national healthcare system. The article attempts to examine the main challenges to the healthcare system in Poland from an institutional point of view. Suggestions are offered for how policy makers and industry players may initiate institutional change in healthcare.
Highlights
Healthcare is inherently different from other types of services
Every country tries to work out its own concept and healthcare system embedded in a specific institutional environment (Jan, 2000)
Neo-classical approach coincides with the notion of rational choice theory which suggests that people act rationally in making economic decisions (Hodgson, 2008)
Summary
Healthcare is inherently different from other types of services. National healthcare system is complex and varies from countries to countries, even among countries sharing similar institutional characteristics. The Poles have developed many different strategies to obtain faster and more personalised medical services (Boulhol et al, 2012), which are often borne directly from patients These recent trends disturb the functions of individual healthcare entities, and increase the operating costs without improving the quality of care. A citizen, as a principal, forms relation with agents, namely public institutions and healthcare organisations in receiving care and treatment Despite public institutions such as NFZ and Ministry of Health are not providing healthcare directly to the citizens, these institutions play a regulatory role in planning and allocating resources (Plichta, 2016; Sagan et al, 2011). It is caused by a traditional, coal-based system of residential heating and, on the other, by deliberate burning of waste materials in furnaces, which causes pollution with heavy and toxic compounds alike
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