The president of the Portuguese Medical Association has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Health and the Health Regulatory Authority, after learning that the “number of hospital discharges” is a criterion for the payment of fees.
According to a press release from the Portuguese Medical Association (OM), this “remuneration factor” is being used by human resources management companies responsible for recruiting doctors at the request of National Health Service hospitals.
According to Carlos Cortes, OM’s president, if this information is confirmed, “this is an unacceptable practice, which interferes with medical autonomy, disregards the patient’s clinical condition and puts unacceptable additional pressure on doctors”.
For the OM, the hiring of clinicians must comply with “rigorous and objective criteria, safeguarding the technical assessment and clinical condition of patients”.
In this sense, he stresses the importance of “regulating and supervising the work of human resources management companies in the health sector, to prevent similar situations from occurring”.
Carlos Cortes also believes that “it is unacceptable for doctors’ pay to be indexed to the number of discharges given”, stressing that this is “a mercantile vision and an attack on the quality of healthcare”.
“Clinical discharge is a medical act that must have strict clinical criteria and can never be related to a remuneration bonus,” he adds, quoted in the press release.
For Carlos Cortes, “these intermediary companies recruiting doctors have often acted in a way that disrespects the work of doctors, their appreciation and autonomy”.
“This is an unacceptable practice in which the Ministry of Health must intervene promptly and regulate this sector,” he said.
Carlos Cortes also questioned the Board of Directors of the Setúbal Hospital Center, to which the hospital mentioned in the news belongs.
