The role and importance of general/county hospitals in treating oncology patients in the Republic of Croatia
Autori:
Renata Kelemenić-Dražin, Anuška Budisavljević, Zvjezdana Borić-Mikez, Zvonimir Curić, Mislav Čonkaš, Iva Kardum Fucak, Duška Opačić, Vesna Telesmanić Dobrić, Mario Nalbani
Sažetak
Summary
Oncology is an important segment of the overall Croatian health care system. Oncology itself is one of the most propulsive medical professions currently, and we are witnessing daily the expansive growth of new modalities of oncology treatment. These facts impose the imperative to create an oncology network that would have as its task the standardization of oncology treatment and ensuring that new treatment modalities are available for all patients with malignant diseases regardless of their place of residence. Croatia has already recognized and defined regional oncology centers within clinical hospital centers in Zagreb, Rijeka, Osijek, and Split. Fortunately, in Croatia, there has been a tradition for several decades of developing oncology centers in general and county hospitals. Individually named, these are nonclinical oncology centers at County Hospital Čakovec, General Hospital Dubrovnik, General Hospital Karlovac, General Hospital Koprivnica, General Hospital Pula, General Hospital Slavonski Brod, General Hospital Šibenik, General Hospital Varaždin and General Hospital Zadar. The purpose of this research, conducted at all nonclinical oncology centers in the Republic of Croatia, and for which were used data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, was to find out how oncology care is currently organized, and what is the role of nonclinical oncology centers in the treatment of patients with malignant diseases in the Republic of Croatia.