The Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) and the Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić” officially announced that automated transparent patient waiting lists are now in use at this healthcare institution. The introduction of transparent waiting lists in hospitals aims to improve the quality of services for patients, reduce waiting times, increase transparency, and help prevent corruption in the healthcare sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, waiting times for certain non-emergency healthcare services are very long. Such delays not only directly impact the health and lives of patients but can also lead to corrupt and unlawful practices, such as healthcare workers encouraging bribes or patients offering bribes to speed up access to services.
“One of the proven best ways to improve the quality of services and prevent corruption is to increase the level of transparency. Transparent waiting lists contribute to better healthcare services, protection of the right to health for citizens, and improved access to medical care. Therefore, CCI welcomes all healthcare institutions, including the Cantonal Hospital ‘Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić,’ that have introduced this system into their operations. We also call on other healthcare institutions to follow this good practice and implement transparent patient waiting lists in order to improve the healthcare system and make access to healthcare services simpler and easier. Increasing transparency in this area provides better oversight of the lists and directly helps prevent corruption. In the long term, establishing such a system should reduce waiting times for patients and give decision-makers clearer insight into the bottlenecks on waiting lists,” said Asmir Ćilimković, Project Manager at the Centers for Civic Initiatives.
Given that transparent waiting lists bring multiple benefits to the local community, citizens, and healthcare institutions alike, the commitment of healthcare providers to introduce them is of crucial importance. By improving transparency, accountability, and integrity, the Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić” has set an example of good practice for the further establishment of systemic preventive solutions.
“This institution is dedicated to improving quality and safety in the provision of healthcare services, focusing on our patients and involving both patients and the wider public in evaluating our work. From the outset, we decided to create electronic records for MRI services, gastroscopy and colonoscopy procedures, cataract and tonsil surgeries, as these were the services with the longest waiting times. Our priority is to restore patients’ trust in the public healthcare system by informing them in writing that they have been placed on a waiting list, indicating their exact position on the list at the time of notification, and ensuring through monitoring that their waiting time for services is kept as short as possible,” said Almir Kovačević, Head of the Director’s Cabinet at the Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić.”
In this way, transparency has been significantly improved: citizens, patients, as well as representatives of civil society and the media, now have public access to waiting lists on the hospital’s website (lc.kbbihac.ba). Currently, waiting lists are published for the most burdened services, with the possibility of expanding to other examinations and surgeries.
“We developed software for the automatic creation and public publication of waiting lists, which, after additional coordination and staff training, has been operationalized and is now in use. With this system, patients can track their scheduled examinations at any time and see if there are major changes in the scheduling of appointments. For the Cantonal Hospital ‘Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić,’ the system enables better management of waiting lists, monitoring of patient flow, as well as analytical and statistical tracking of service delivery. At the same time, the scheduling procedure is simple and adapted to all citizens,” said Mersad Avdić, Director of the Creativo Center.
The establishment of transparent waiting lists for patients in healthcare institutions across Bosnia and Herzegovina is essential for improving healthcare and restoring citizens’ trust in the public health system.