Pay for performance should include all categories of doctors, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Tuesday, adding considers that it is neither ethical nor moral for some doctors who have an intense activity to receive the same pay as those who do not work the same.
"There are very big differences and I don't think it's ethical or moral for doctors, for example, who do a totally different activity, that is, some very intensely, others much less relevant, to receive the same pay. I think it is an issue that we have to take up this year, to solve it together with the National Health Insurance House and with the consultancy we have within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan ( PNRR). (...) Regarding pre-hospital care, the involvement of various categories of professions, the pay for performance must, I believe, include all categories of doctors," the minister said.
According to him, the Ministry of Health supports the "adequate" funding of the activity of doctors in the specialised outpatient clinics, who currently receive lower funding than family physicians.
"The position that the Ministry of Health has constantly had is to properly finance the activity of doctors in the specialised outpatient clinics, who at the moment receive an amount of money that is lower than family physicians do. I don't think it's okay. Of course, family medicine should also be stimulated and developed. Clearly, we are doing this and family physicians' incomes doubled in 2023, but we cannot neglect the development of specialised outpatient services if we want to have sustainable funding at the level of healthcare," Rafila told a health forum on the great Health challenges of 2025.
He added that the Ministry of Health will consider the development of private health insurance, which is "insignificant" in Romania compared to any other country in the European Union.
"The mechanisms we have developed in Romania do not actually bring new money into the healthcare system. (...) I believe that this development of medical services, including after hours, for example, in public health units can be a incentive to stimulate these private health insurances offering additional services or a shortening of waiting lists where appropriate for patients," the minister said.
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