The MedKompas initiative of POLMED has focused on fighting corruption and raising the importance of compliance in healthcare systems in Poland since 2010. POLMED believes that if the gap between the legislation and people’s values and social norms is too large, then even the most restrictive legal regulations will not help to fight corruption. This is why the activities are geared towards shaping ethical values in the public and private healthcare sectors.

During the MedKompas II project, POLMED:

• Educated the Polish healthcare system participants (e.g. medical doctors, hospital directors and management staff, etc.) about ethical business conduct and how to set up transparent relations between doctors and medical companies, combined with awareness raising activities among the medical device system participants (e.g. decision makers, doctors, hospital directors, representatives of medical device companies).
• Built the first model compliance system for public healthcare institutions in Poland and implemented this in three selected Polish hospitals.

Building on these achievements, the latest project of POLMED foresees numerous trainings on anti-corruption law and ethical standards of cooperation with 1,200 participants, several public debates, and many anti-corruption system implementations where each implementation will have an impact on around 700 individuals employed in a given hospital.

The MedKompas III project focuses on two main objectives:

• Creating fair market conditions by reducing the susceptibility to corruption among the Polish healthcare system participants.
• Preventing an illusionary implementation of anti-corruption procedures in hospitals, which will contribute and lead to the creation of standards for fair market conditions.

Both objectives are crucial in fighting corruption and raising the importance of compliance in healthcare systems.