NewsPharmacy Vision of Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZA) In October 2008 the NZA has published its vision on the future of pharmacies in the Netherlands. It said that the NZA wanted to radically change to a system of free price negotiations by January 1st 2010. A pharmacy should not be involved with the procurement of medicines anymore, but focus on delivering pharmaceutical care to patients to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of medicines for patients and their healthcare insurers.
Adstrat was asked by the NZA to comment on the vision and has advised to take more time for the transition from fully fixed to totally free prices. A bridge should be built to migrate pharmacies to the new business model. This bridge should consist of clearly defined care products and services, with calculation models for prices and costs and ICT systems for administration, clearance and payment.
In its final advice to the Minister, the NZa has changed the launch date to January 1st 2011 because of ‘transition challenges’, in line with the Adstrat advice.
Read on: the Adstrat comments (in Dutch) |