New rules for visiting a NFZ doctor. It’s about queuing and booking appointments

The state of epidemic threat is still in force in Poland. Accordingly, the government changed the rules for returning to the queue to see a specialist after the patient did not report on time. Previously, in order to be re-entered on the waiting list, it was necessary to declare that the reason for the adversity was force majeure. How is it now?

1. On August 31, the regulation of the Council of Ministers on restrictions, orders and bans in connection with the occurrence of an epidemic threat entered into force
2. The most important change concerns the change in the rules of returning to the queue to the NHF doctor after failing to meet the appointment
3. Now it is not necessary to prove that the reason for the absence was force majeure, and the deadline for submitting the application was extended from seven to 14 days.
4. The regulations are valid until the end of September
5. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

Queues to see the doctor are the bane of patients

Each medical facility that has a contract with the National Health Fund is required to keep waiting lists. In accordance with the Act on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds of 2004 «in order to receive a given health care benefit, the recipient may enter one waiting list at one healthcare provider«.

We all know how long queues to doctors in public institutions can be. According to the Watch Health Care Foundation report on the availability of guaranteed health services in Poland from September 2021, the average waiting time for the service (a visit to a specialist or a diagnostic test) was 3-4 months. The government is introducing measures to shorten this time, but the length of the line to see the doctor is still counted in weeks, if not months.

If you did not show up for the planned visit, you would drop out of the queue. Return to his former place was possible only after presenting the application for restoration within seven days, stating that the cause of the adversary was a force majeure. Now these rules have been simplified a bit, but – attention! – only for a month.

Easier to regain your seat in the queue

On August 31, an amendment to «regulation on the establishment of certain restrictions, orders and bans in connection with an epidemic emergency ». There are two important elements in it.

The first says that “a beneficiary who did not report on the scheduled date for the provision of healthcare and was therefore removed from the waiting list, is reinstated on this list without having to prove that the failure to report was due to force majeure. The claimant shall submit the application no later than within 14 days from the date indicated in the first sentence ».

This means that it is no longer necessary to indicate force majeure in the application, and the deadline for its submission has been extended from seven to 14 days. We submit the application to the appropriate clinic, and after considering it, we get to the first free place in the queue.

The second paragraph deals with referrals. We read in it that “The recipient who, by the date of entry into force of this regulation, has not presented the original of the referral, is obliged to provide the healthcare provider with the original referral within 21 days from the date of entry into force of this regulation, but not later than on the date of providing healthcare services performed on the basis of this referral ».

The new rules are valid until September 30.

When is it easiest to see a doctor?

Brandscope recently reviewed the easiest days to see a doctor, in both public and private settings. In the former cases, it took into account the National Health Fund data showing the number of visits to primary care physicians on individual days, in the period from July to September 2021.

It turned out that the lowest traffic in clinics is on Fridays, because on that day there is an average of 18 percent. patients who see a doctor throughout the week. On the other extreme, there are Mondays where 22 percent want to use the advice. patients.

What does it look like on specific numbers? In the third quarter of 2021, POZ facilities received:

1. on Mondays, almost 600 people,
2. 567 on Tuesdays,
3. on Wednesdays 544 thousand,
4. 532 on Thursdays,
5. on Fridays over 495 thousand.

The situation is similar in private institutions. The fewest patients come on Fridays (over 15%), and on Mondays the most (almost 22% of the total).

– This piling up of the demand for advice on Monday is due to two reasons. First of all, from situations in which something “takes us” already on Friday, but we hope that during the weekend we will recover using home methods and go to work. Unfortunately, it is not always successful and hence the need to visit a doctor on Monday – explains Xenia Kruszewska, Director of the Health Insurance Department at SALTUS Ubezpieczenia.

– Secondly, some patients are determined to go to the doctor because something bothers them, but they feel well enough that they postpone the visit for the next days. When they catch a breath on the weekend, they decide to take care of themselves and go to the doctor on Monday. As can be seen from the above data, it is better to do it on Fridays, because there will be definitely fewer patients – adds Kruszewska.