- E-referral - what is it?
- E-referral - for what examinations and treatments is issued?
- E-referral - when does it not apply?
- How does the doctor issue an e-referral?
- How to register an appointment with e-referral?
E-referral, i.e. referral for tests or further treatment, issued by the facility in electronic form, is valid from January 8, 2022, although many facilities used this solution as early as 2022. What is e-referral? For which examinations and consultations can a doctor issue an e-referral, how to receive an e-mail or SMS referral? How to sign up for a study with e-referral and how does the registration of a visit look like based on it? Everyone who uses public and private he althcare facilities must know this.
E-referralis a novelty for many people, despite the fact that many institutions already in 2022 used this form of issuing referrals for examinations, medical consultations and further treatment. From January 8, 2022, all institutions are required to do so. Therefore, e-referrals will be issued by doctors for most examinations, consultations, treatments or further treatment. However, it is worth knowing that some benefits are still subject to paper referrals.
E-referral - what is it?
E-referral is a digital document issued by a doctor in electronic form. They are issued by a doctor who decides that the patient needs further tests, treatments or specialist consultation. After entering the patient's data into the office system connected to the e-he alth platform (P1) or the salonet.gov.pl application, and then signs using a digital signature. The patient may receive an e-referral in the form of:
- SMS - then it has the form of a four-digit code
- by e-mail - as an attachment with a pdf file
- paper information printout.
Each form of e-referral has a unique 4-digit code assigned to a given person and a specific referral.
E-referral - for what examinations and treatments is issued?
An E-referral can be issued by the doctor for the following services:
- outpatient specialist services financed by the National He alth Fund (except for the advice of a speech therapist)
- hospital treatment (except treatment in psychiatric hospitals) - in hospitals with an agreement on the provision of he althcare services
- nuclear medicine and computed tomography research(also those used by the patient privately)
- magnetic resonance imaging
- gastrointestinal endoscopy
- fetal echocardiography
E-referral - when does it not apply?
For some benefits, e-referral is not issued - in this case, the referral in the current, paper form is still valid. E-referral is not issued to:
- treatment in a psychiatric hospital
- rehabilitation
- treatment in a sanatorium or spa
- drug programs
A paper-based referral may also be issued when a doctor or other person authorized to issue referrals (e.g. a medical assistant, midwife, nurse) does not have access to the e-he alth system, the salon.gov.pl system or There is no internet access during the home visit.
They are also issued to persons with undetermined identity, citizens of other EU Member States who stay in Poland temporarily, or patients staying in hospitals who are referred for specialist examinations at a given facility.
How does the doctor issue an e-referral?
E-referral is issued by a doctor during a traditional visit or teleconsultation. During the conversation with the patient, the doctor enters all the necessary data into the system and issues a referral. A patient who has an Internet Patient Account and provided a telephone number and e-mail address in it, as well as consented to the data transfer, will receive an SMS with a code or an e-mail with an e-referral.
For a person who is consulted remotely and does not use the Patient's Internet Account, the doctor will give a four-digit referral code. And if the visit takes place in a traditional way, he will give him a printout with a code.
How to register an appointment with e-referral?
Registration with e-referral is very simple: when calling registration (or registering for an appointment in person), all you need to do is enter the four-digit code and your PESEL number. It is worth remembering that on the basis of an e-referral, you can only sign up for one medical facility: one referral cannot be registered simultaneously in different clinics (which was possible in the case of a paper referral) - this is to shorten the queues to specialists and for treatments.
