IOWISZ (Evaluation Instrument of Investment Motions in Health Care) – as a tool to rationalise the spending of public funds in health care

The article presents the most important issues related to the creation and functioning in the Polish health care system of the Evaluation Instrument of Investment Motions in Health Care (the so-called IOWISZ). The main objective of the publication is to provide a detailed characterisation and assessment of the operation of a relatively new tool for managing financial resources in health care, i.e. the IOWISZ. The specific structure of the IOWISZ system and the role assigned to this instrument by the regulator in the Polish health care system are presented. Furthermore, the origin and evolution of the IOWISZ system is presented as well as the experiences to date related to its functioning. The treatise also presents in detail the procedure for healthcare providers (investors) aimed at obtaining a positive opinion on the advisability of the investment under preparation, which is currently a prerequisite for the investment to be covered by public funding from the National Health Fund (NFZ). A review of the literature (including legal acts) made it possible to draw conclusions that the functioning of the IOWISZ system has contributed to the improvement of the effectiveness of public funds spending and rationalisation of capital expenditure in healthcare. The tool described is generally well evaluated by its users and still has a great potential for development when it comes to further improving the efficiency of the use of available (limited) resources in the Polish health care system. The arrival of the IOWISZ system meant that investments in health care became well-structured and correlated with the national health policy. To an increasing extent, investments are made in accordance with the maps of health needs and regional health and development policies, and consequently with the actual and diverse health needs of the inhabitants in each region of the country.