Aneta Mela

Reimbursement process of medicinal products in Poland and in the world
2020-09-07

Reimbursement of drugs is a complex process which requires consideration and balancing of interests of various parties: patients, pharmaceutical manufacturers and payers financing medical services. This article aims at presenting approaches to reimbursement of drugs in Poland and countries referred to by the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariffication during the development of Verification Analyzes, i.e.: United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Canada. Reimbursement process is diverse depending of conditions in particular country. Various approaches are present in terms of: reimbursement of drugs used in hospital and available in pharmacies, generic and innovative drugs, time for which reimbursement decision is issued as well as method of accounting for expenditure for drugs and possible replacement of drugs with cheaper substitutes. In each of the presented countries one can note differences and similarities in terms of: institutions engaged in reimbursement process, significance of assessment and recommendations issued by appropriate institutions, treatment assessment criteria, approach to innovative and generic drugs, instruments used in order to minimize payer’s cost and maximize patients’ access to treatment, actions aiming at unifying financing among particular groups of drugs and general complexity of the whole reimbursement process.

Keywords: reimbursment, medicinal products, reimbursment process.

© Farm Pol, 2020, 76 (7): 388–394