Five years ago, the application of mandatory health insurance system throughout the country was a significant institutional reform in Azerbaijan’s healthcare system.
This was stated by Member of Parliament Parvana Valiyeva, noting that the main reason for this was not only the financing of healthcare, but also the need to improve the access of the population to medical services, reduce financial barriers, and make more efficient use of existing healthcare resources.
She noted that before the reform, one of the main problems was the financial barriers to access to medical services for the population:
“At the same time, the financing of medical institutions did not sufficiently stimulate them to increase the volume and quality of services.
Mandatory health insurance has formed an institutional basis for the collection of healthcare funds in a unified fund, the direction of these funds to services defined for the population, the transition to financing medical institutions based on their results and service quality, and ensuring more accessible access of the population to medical services.
The fact that the mandatory insurance fund acts as a strategic buyer should create a more purposeful approach to the volume, quality, and from which medical institutions healthcare services are purchased.”
According to the deputy, the creation of TABIB ensured another important aspect of this reform – the management of healthcare services:
“TABIB has allowed for the formation of a clearer management and responsibility mechanism in the healthcare system. This was especially important because Azerbaijan’s healthcare system was for a long time based on a hospital-oriented model. The new approach, however, envisioned strengthening family doctors and primary healthcare services, with more focus on early detection and prevention of diseases. TABIB has completed its mission, integrating from an operational manager of the transition period into a component of a unified strategic system.
The goal of the new reform is to transform the healthcare management system into a unified structure, thereby increasing efficiency, and most importantly, ensuring more accessible, high-quality, and results-oriented medical service for the citizen, and increasing citizen satisfaction.”
P. Valiyeva emphasized that the merger of TABIB with the Ministry of Health is important not so much for structural changes in the healthcare system, but for the transition to unified strategic management, clearer responsibility, stronger coordination, and a results-oriented healthcare model:
“The treatment of some diseases was divided between two institutions, which created difficulties in management and data collection. The citizen sometimes confused the division of powers between institutions, and problems arose, especially regarding the delivery of appeals to the correct address. With unified management, the Ministry of Health will be responsible for the organization of medical services, the procurement, registration, and distribution of medicines and medical equipment across the country, as well as personnel training, certification, and employment.
In addition, the formation of healthcare policies, the development of strategic plans, as well as legislative initiatives will be put forward by a unified institution.
This is also the case in world practice; mandatory health insurance is part of state social insurance and is subordinate to that institution, while healthcare issues are within the competence of another unified institution. Of course, it takes some time for the mandatory health insurance system to be fully understood across the country and for the system to settle in. In this regard, TABIB has successfully completed its transitional mission and moved to a more advanced management model.”
For information, we note that today, by the Decree of President Ilham Aliyev, the public legal entity “Association for the Management of Medical Territorial Units” (TABIB) has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. jurisdiction.
Also, by the Order of the Head of State, the Minister of Health Teymur Musayev was dismissed from his post and appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister. Deputy Prime Minister.
By other Decrees of the President, the executive director of TABIB, Anar Bayramov, was dismissed from his post and appointed as the Minister of Health.