Within the National Health Fund (NFZ) or privately? Advantages and disadvantages of the physiotherapy services system

Abstract

Introduction. With the entry into force of the Act on the Physiotherapist Profession, the profession of physiotherapist became an independent medical profession. The amendment to the Act in 2019 significantly expanded the scope of competences of contractors of the mentioned profession and strengthened its position in the health care system The aim of the study was to analyze the use of the physiotherapy services system within public and private health care. Material and methods. A total of 606 people (100%) were included in the study. The vast majority were women (506; 83.5%). The average age of the respondents was 28 years. The research tool was an original survey questionnaire created and made available via a Google form. Results. The most frequently used physiotherapy treatments within public health care included physical therapy (129; 34%) and kinesiotherapy (109; 28.8%), and the most frequently indicated reason for using the mentioned form was an injury or accident (83; 38.4%) and lifestyle-related pain (60; 27.8%). Most respondents considered the advantage of physiotherapy services provided as part of public health care to be the lack of fees for the visit (153; 63%) and the possibility of using the services of qualified specialists (42; 17.3%), while the greatest disadvantage was the long waiting time for the visit (138; 35.9%) and insufficient equipment of facilities (67; 17.4%). The most frequently used physiotherapy services in the private sector included: massage (179; 27.8%) and manual therapy (136; 21.1%), and the most common reasons for using these services were lifestyle-related pain (133; 36, 3%) and injury or accident (112; 30.6%). Most people considered short waiting times for services (218; 22.2%) and the involvement of a physiotherapist (211; 21.5%) as the greatest advantages of commercial services, and high prices of services (196; 61.1%) – a disadvantage. Conclusions 1. More than half of the people included in the study used physiotherapy services, including the vast majority – commercial services. 2. Differences were observed regarding the reasons for using physiotherapy services and the type of therapies used in public and private health care: public services were most often used by the respondents due to an injury or accident, while private services were used due to lifestyle-related pain, and the respondents most often used public physiotherapy services included physical therapy and kinesiotherapy, while in the private sector: massage and manual therapy. 3. Most respondents considered the advantage of physiotherapy services provided within public health care the lack of fees for a visit and the possibility of using the services of qualified specialists, while in the private sector – short waiting times for services and greater involvement of the physiotherapist. 4. According to the respondents, the disadvantages of physiotherapy services within public health care were long waiting times for therapy and insufficient equipment of the facility, and in the private sector – high prices of services.