From Saturday, e.g. in the case of chronic diseases, the doctor will be able to write prescriptions for up to a year, instead of – as usual – for a maximum of three months. The provisions that come into force, prepared by the Ministry of Health, are part of the so-called queue package.
On Saturday, the ordinance of the Minister of Health of September 11, 2014, amending the ordinance on medical prescriptions, enters into force. It extends the time for which a doctor can prescribe drugs – from 90 to 360 days. Your doctor will be able to write up to 12 prescriptions at a time for consecutive periods not exceeding a total of 360 days of use. On one prescription – under the new regulation – a doctor cannot prescribe a drug for more than 4 months (120 days) of use.
For prescriptions for contraceptives, your doctor will be able to issue up to six prescriptions for consecutive periods of use not exceeding a total of six months of use.
According to the Ministry of Health, such a solution is to reduce the number of medical visits aimed solely at obtaining another prescription for drugs by a patient, e.g. with a chronic disease. This is to improve access to doctors for those patients who need medical advice.
Other solutions that under the so-called of the queue package are to improve patients’ access to doctors, including introducing prescription advice, i.e. the possibility of writing another prescription without the need for a doctor’s visit. In addition, the prescription can be collected by a person authorized by the patient. From 2016, nurses will also be able to prescribe certain medications.
Moreover, specialist doctors will be financially motivated to quickly diagnose and treat new patients, and not only to continue the existing therapies. According to the Minister of Health, the queues for specialists will be reduced – the obligation to consult a specialist every 12 months in order to obtain a certificate of a chronic disease is also to be abolished.
In addition, family doctors will be given the possibility of more extensive diagnosis.
Every week, service providers are to provide the NFZ with information about the first available date on which a given service may be provided. They will also be required to maintain electronic waiting lists.
For some medical specialties, central queues are to be created in order to help the patient find the place where the given service will be delivered the fastest, but also to prevent patients from signing up for several queues at the same time. (PAP)