The Ministry of Health withdraws from the changes in teleporadas?

There are many indications that the Ministry of Health will significantly delay, and perhaps even completely withdraw from, the proposed changes to telepaths. Very unfavorable for the patient, let us add. “The ministry is considering other solutions that will regulate teleporting without creating excessive restrictions on access to remote services,” we read in an e-mail sent to us by the Ministry of Health.

1. Telemedicine has become extremely popular during the pandemic. At one point, even 80 percent. medical consultations took place in the form of teleports
2. In the era of coronavirus, it has become an alternative to a stationary visit, and for many patients it has already become a standard solution
3. The Ministry of Health wanted to seriously limit the possibility of remote contact with a doctor
4. The changes were to enter into force on October 1, but as a result of protests from many circles, they were postponed
5. Perhaps the Ministry of Health will completely abandon the project of changes in the provision of telemedicine services
6. More information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page

Ministry of Health: telepaths without excessive restrictions

On October 1, the Ministry of Health announced the entry into force of new rules regarding teleportices. The changes contained in the draft ordinance of the minister of health of July 2 severely limited the possibility of using telepaths. The project met with criticism from many environments – medical, patient and scientific.

The changes to the advice did not come into force in October, as the health ministry informed us at the beginning of last month, all the time “The additional comments made by the healthcare provider organizations were analyzed”.

In the meantime, 21 patient organizations, employers and health service providers as well as scientific societies have developed the Interdisciplinary Telemedicine Standard, which was also sent to the Ministry of Health.

So we asked the Ministry of Health what the current status of the project of changes is and whether it will take into account the ideas contained in the Standard.

Here is the answer we got:

«An analysis of the comments submitted to the draft regulation on the organizational standard for the provision of healthcare services via ICT systems or communication systems is in progress. The ministry is considering other solutions that will regulate teleporting without creating excessive restrictions on access to remote services. After completing this process and working out the target solutions, an appropriate period of vacatio legis will be provided to enable adjustment. We will keep you informed about all decisions in this matter »- he wrote Jaroslaw Rybarczyk from the Communications Office of the Ministry of Health.

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As you can see, the analysis is still ongoing. There are also many indications that its end result will be the withdrawal of the Ministry of Health from the planned changes in teleporades.

Interdisciplinary Telemedicine Standard – what is this document?

At the end of October, the Interdisciplinary Telemedicine Standard was developed. As the authors of the document assure, its «the aim is to improve the quality and safety of telemedicine services in Poland and thus improve the quality of healthcare, including patient safety ».

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The document was developed by several dozen experts representing, inter alia, patient organizations, organizations of employers and health service providers as well as scientific societies.

The standard has already been consulted widely and sent to the Ministry of Health.

Interdisciplinary Telemedicine Standard – rules

What rules for providing telemedicine services are included in the Interdisciplinary Telemedicine Standard? Some of them below:

1. A medical professional should follow the indications of current medical knowledge, taking into account in particular: the type of telemedicine service, the circumstances and the patient’s health problem, the available information about the patient’s health condition, the effectiveness and safety of the proposed method, the possibility of establishing appropriate contact with the patient, allowing for a logical understanding of the content.
2. It should be assessed whether, in a given case, the provision of a telemedical service is justified and to what extent such a service may be used (a medical professional may provide a health service partly in the form of a telemedicine and partly recommend a direct solution)
3. When assessing whether a telemedicine service is the right solution for a given health case, a medical professional: makes a preliminary assessment whether and to what extent providing a health service only in the form of telemedicine will be justified, conducts a medical interview (if possible, using symptom assessment systems, procedures for arranging services in a medical entity, assessment of a consultant or medical assistant, aimed at making an assessment before providing a service, etc.), analyzes the available medical data, including the patient’s medical documentation, assesses the health condition, including physical examination with the use of a medical device for remote diagnostics or remote monitoring (if the patient uses the device in question) or takes into account the results of tests carried out by the patient himself, makes sure that the patient is aware of the key limitations and risks resulting from the telemedical form of health care, includingdiagnostic limitations
4. When providing telemedicine services to the elderly, children, people with certain disabilities or chronic diseases, including rare diseases, it is important to make sure that the patient understands the content of the telemedicine services provided, and that the caregiver is properly informed
5. In the case of services provided to children, in addition to age, the individual state of development of the patient should be taken into account in particular and the telemedicine service should be carried out adequately to it.
6. In the case of seniors, particular attention should be paid to the level of individual digital competences and the message should be adapted to them, e.g. by additional repetition of the recommendations or stronger involvement of the Guardian. Additionally, it is worth making sure that such a patient wants to actively participate in the service.

The new rules of teleportation – what were they supposed to consist of?

According to the draft of 2 July on the “organizational standard for the provision of healthcare services via ICT systems or communication systems”, the possibility of providing telemedicine services was to be severely limited.

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What exactly was included in the project? According to its rules, in the following cases, it would only be possible to visit a medical facility and contact a doctor directly:

1. during the first consultation in the case of patients starting treatment in a given entity or covered by care in a given entity, but reporting a new health problem,
2. in connection with a chronic disease in which the symptoms deteriorated or changed,
3. in the case of children up to 6 years of age, apart from follow-up consultations during the treatment determined as a result of a personal examination of the patient, which can be provided without physical examination.

«New rules will make access to doctors difficult»

Both medical organizations and patient associations protested against the principles set out in the draft, as well as employers’ unions and online consultation companies.

The provisions contained in the regulation in many cases limit or exclude the possibility of remote consultation with a doctor, therefore, in the opinion of the aforementioned groups, they will seriously impede access to specialists, limit the possibility of contact with a doctor for people from small towns, make queues in clinics longer, and waiting times for an appointment will increase significantly. The need for a stationary visit in times of an ongoing pandemic may also pose an epidemiological threat.

1. “The changes proposed by the Ministry of Health are wrong and should be removed”

“The limitation in access to telepaths will hit two groups of patients the hardest, ie people living in smaller towns where access to a doctor is difficult, and professionally active people who make their visits only after 18 »- noted the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers.

– In my opinion, everything is equally controversial. And the first visit, and a new health problem, and a change in symptoms, and the need for a personal visit in the case of a child. We must remember that even when a patient requests this visit, in the light of the regulation he will not be able to use it, but he will have to come in person – said Jan Pachocki from the Telemedyczna Grupa Robocza Foundation in an interview with Medonet.

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