The National Reference Centre (NRC) – the Informational Support for Quality and Health Care Effectiveness

Author: Antonín Malina,  Institute for Postgraduate Medical Education, Czech Republic

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Abstract

Conference paper informs about the establishment and activities of the National Reference Centre. The NRC was created on the base of health care resort´s needs to establish more universal systém for management support. It concerns of the sector that disposes of powerful information technologies and manpower for providing of health care establishments and insurance companies with data collection and their processing and that is able to provide operating a large data stock and an efficient enough system management for the support for decision making and managing in the framework of health care. NRC works with the data of highest quality and representativeness that are practically attainable under given conditions. It provides other subjects with information (above all hospitals, health care insurance companies and ministry of health care) on the objective comparing of different indicators of their activities and thereby it helps in finding of the best and most effective attainable solutions. Some part of NRC activities represent the activities concerning of the implementation of the new ways of payments for health care.

About the author

Graduated from Medical Faculty of the Charles University, Prague in 1981. Between 1982-1993 worked in the Clinic of Paediatrics of the Medical Faculty in Prague as house physician, registrar, later as Head of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and finally as Head of Clinic of Paediatrics in 1990-1993. From 1993 he started his career in the field of health care system and public health, first as a director of the Department of Health Care, in 1999-2002 as a Deputy of the Minister for Health Care, Ministry of Health. At the same time he was active as a teacher in the Institute for Postgraduate Medical Education in Prague, in 1998 he was appointed as a Head of the School of Public Health in this Institute. When in 2002 he left the Ministry of Health, he became the Director of the Institute.

During his clinical career he achieved specialisation in Paediatrics Grade I and II and in 1999 also specialisation in Public Health. Dr Malina participated in many special courses and training (e.g. Logical Frames Methodology Training, Course on the EU Issues). During last years he defended his thesis medium-term Health Policy in the Czech Republic and got the title Ph.D. Now he has finished study programme MBA.