Queues to the sanatorium – referrals, waiting time, costs [EXPLAINED]

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The queue to the sanatorium can be very long. The waiting time for a person submitting an application for a referral to a sanatorium is approximately 2 years on average. Today, people applying for a place in the spa can follow the queue to the sanatorium online on the website of the National Health Fund. To do this, just enter our referral number.

The sanatorium helps patients of all ages to recover. Thanks to the treatments in the sanatorium, these people recover faster and more efficiently. It turns out, however, that not everyone has to wait in line to the sanatorium. This privilege may be used by, for example, honorary blood donors, veterans or war invalids. Check how you can skip the line to the sanatorium.

A family doctor or a specialist doctor decides about a patient’s trip to a sanatorium. The basis for writing a referral for a patient is his disease card and current health condition. The doctor issues a referral containing the current test results. So prepared referral to a sanatorium and relevant medical documentation should be submitted to the Spa Treatment Department. This operation can be performed by both the patient and the doctor issuing the referral.

In the next stage, employees of the Health Resort Treatment Department verify whether the patient is insured, and whether he or she has benefited from this type of health care in the last 12 months. If the verification is successful, the issued referral is registered and the patient receives an individual number. Having such a number, the patient can check his place in the queue to the sanatorium.

What treatments can you take advantage of in the sanatorium? Check: Treatment in a sanatorium. Treatments that can be used

Trips to the sanatorium are very popular among patients, hence the lines can be very long. Importantly, many people who are entitled to a trip to a sanatorium are not aware of it and do not use this health service. Patients should know that subsidies or refunds from various institutions are not mutually exclusive, so you can go to a sanatorium from the National Health Fund, PFRON, ZUS or KRUS. Of course, in these cases, certain criteria must be met.

  1. A trip to a sanatorium financed by the National Health Fund – is granted to every insured person whose health condition requires repair. If the attending physician of a given patient decides that the patient should go to a sanatorium, he will issue an appropriate referral. You usually wait several months for a trip to a sanatorium with a referral from the National Health Fund. These types of trips are most often directed to people who struggle with chronic diseases, and this form of treatment can be used once every 18 months. Important information for patients is that trips from the National Health Fund are not reimbursed in 100%. The amount of the surcharge depends on the standard of the room or the season in which the trip to the sanatorium is planned.
  2. The trip to the sanatorium is financed by the Social Insurance Institution – this benefit is usually used by people who are on sick leave, receive rehabilitation benefits or a disability pension. The Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) sends patients to sanatoriums in order to prevent these people from going on a disability pension or to return them to work. It is an option for ZUS that is more advantageous than the payment of permanent benefits.
  3. A trip to the sanatorium financed by KRUS – these trips are intended for people who are insured in KRUS. KRUS sends farmers and their families for treatment in centers with which it has a signed contract, but also to its own Farmers’ Rehabilitation Centers. Patients may benefit from this benefit once every 12 months. 

You can find more information about referrals to a sanatorium here: Referrals to a sanatorium. Everything you need to know about them

Despite the long queues to sanatoriums and many people willing to take advantage of this type of health service, there are contraindications that exclude a medical trip.

Contraindications to a trip to a sanatorium are:

  1. acute infectious diseases;
  2. infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, venereal diseases, parasitic diseases, mycosis, scabies, pinworms;
  3. inflammatory foci such as purulent tonsillitis, purulent sinusitis, periodontal abscesses, mycoses of the skin;
  4. viral hepatitis;
  5. diseases with significant indications for acute surgery, such as gallbladder stones, kidney stones, pyloric stenosis, gastrointestinal bleeding, entrapment hernia;
  6. full-blown circulatory and respiratory failure;
  7. liver failure;
  8. mental illnesses, considerable and profound mental retardation;
  9. profound personality and behavioral disorders that create problems in social functioning;
  10. alcoholism;
  11. Cancer;
  12. pregnancy and lactation;
  13. ischemic heart diseases and arrhythmias;
  14. endocrine conditions in the pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands in the period of hormonal disequilibrium.

Queue to the sanatorium – waiting time from the National Health Fund

The lines to the sanatorium are still getting longer. Despite this, there is no shortage of interested parties. People with a referral from the National Health Fund wait for the sanatorium from 18 to 26 months. Usually, the queue to the spa is about 2 years. However, the waiting time for the decision of the National Health Fund is up to 30 days.

When we receive a referral to a sanatorium, remember that it is valid for 18 months. If this time elapses, then we must take into account that it will be withdrawn for reconsideration. It is necessary to perform re-examinations to confirm the need for spa treatment.

You can learn more about the queues to the sanatorium from the National Health Fund in the article: Queue to the sanatorium – how long does it take to stay with the National Health Fund?

Queue to the sanatorium – ZUS

The queue to the sanatorium for people referred by ZUS is much shorter. These patients have a waiting time of 3 to 8 weeks. If the doctor referring the patient to the sanatorium decides that he or she should be urgently sent for treatment, it is possible to go to the sanatorium in as little as two months. This can happen while you are on sick leave, so that you can return to work as soon as possible.

The referral from ZUS means that the patient does not incur any costs related to the trip to the sanatorium, including even transport costs. In addition, he does not take holiday leave, as the trip takes place as part of a sick leave.

Queue to the sanatorium – departure from KRUS

Standard waiting time for departure from KRUS is approx. 12 months. In medically justified cases, the waiting time may be shortened. It is important for patients to know that the stay in the sanatorium may be extended if justified. Each such case is considered individually. Persons who remain on an agricultural pension and those who are entitled to sickness benefits due to temporary incapacity to work longer than 180 days may, in many cases, go to another rehabilitation stay after 6 months from the end of the previous departure.

Important! Priority to a trip to a sanatorium from KRUS is given to people who have lost their ability to work as a result of an accident at agricultural work, as well as those who are at risk of permanent loss of work ability as a result of such an accident.

Queue to the sanatorium – referral browser

Currently, the length of the queue to the sanatorium can be checked online. Viewer of referrals for spa treatment is available on the website of the National Health Fund. The place on the list can be checked from the moment of being referred to the National Health Fund and introduced to the system.

To check your place in the queue to the sanatorium, you only need to provide the number of your referral and rewrite the number from the picture to make the user credible.

The system allows you to check the status of the referral, the assessment of the doctor choosing the method of treatment, place in the queue, place and date of stay in the sanatorium and the date of treatment.

The National Health Fund is obliged to inform about the place and date of stay 14 days before going to the sanatorium.

Queue to the sanatorium and departure from returns

A trip to a sanatorium as a result of the return is when another patient is sent to the sanatorium to replace the patient who resigned from the stay. By using this option, you can significantly speed up your trip to the sanatorium. All referrals submitted by patients are included in the phrases that can be used. You should ask for current returns at the NHF branch where the application was submitted. It is important that a person whose referral has already been positively considered and received their individual number in the queue waiting for the departure cannot take advantage of the return trip.

Queue to the sanatorium – resignation

Long lines to the sanatorium mean that many people refuse to go to the sanatorium for various reasons. Therefore, it is possible to change the date of departure to the sanatorium. In such a situation, you should inform the National Health Fund as soon as possible, because another person from the queue to the sanatorium may go to this place.

If we want to change the date, we can do it in the event of death or serious illness of a loved one, illness or hospitalization of the patient, as well as in the event of lack of leave within the prescribed period.

In any event, you must justify the return of the referral in writing for it to be processed. If the request to change the date is unfounded, it will not be considered positively.

Queue to the sanatorium – skipping

A way to skip the queue to the sanatorium is a private trip, which, however, involves covering all costs of the trip and treatment. It is worth noting, however, that the patient then chooses the date of departure and the place himself. We can also go to the “last minute” sanatorium on our own. The trip is then a bit cheaper. In addition, if the patient organizes the trip privately, it takes place as part of a leave from work.

Queue to the sanatorium – costs

Queues to the sanatorium do not discourage the willing, which means, among others with the costs of such a trip. Each person using the spa treatments must take into account only the costs of accommodation and meals. The prices depend on the standard of the room in which the patient will be accommodated. Importantly, all procedures performed as part of outpatient treatment in the sanatorium are free of charge.

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