Opłaty nieformalne w ochronie zdrowia. Perspektywa i doświadczenia polskie

Informal payments in health care. Polish perspective and experiences Informal patient payments are a common phenomenon for the formersocialist countries, though they are reported in other European countries as well. There are various definitions of informal patient payments as well as theories which explain this phenomenon (including fee for service theory, donation hypothesis, governance hypothesis and ethics hypothesis). The definitions of informal patient payments and the theories applied for their explanation determine the measures which are taken in order to eradicate informal patient payments.The topic of informal patient payments in Poland was discussed within a corruption debate which was neglected for a long time. Since the end of 90s, due to the pressure of the international organizations, presence of corruption generally and informal patient payments particularly have been acknowledged. It resulted in various studies on informal patient payments as well as actions undertaken by governmental and nongovernmental organisations in order to eliminate these forms of payments.This paper presents the review of empirical studies on informal patient payments and actions which have been carried out in Poland during last two decades. The types, scope and levels of informal patient payments as well as opinions on informal patient payments are analyzed. Time series data allow to study also a dynamics of informal patient payments and to draw some conclusions on the effects of measures which have been implemented by the Polish government to deal with informal patient payments.This study is carried out under Project ASSPRO CEE 2007 funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, Theme 8 Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities, Project ASSPRO CEE 2007 (Grant Agreement no. 217431). The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or its service