Primary health care is the pillar of the Polish health care system. Patients go to primary care physicians with most ailments and primary health care services are widely available.
Primary health care services are provided to those who have chosen a primary care physician, nurse, and midwife. Patients can take advantage of these services in a doctor’s office, clinic, or health centre. When needed, patients can request a home visit.
Primary care physician – office hours, how to choose one
Primary health care services should be provided from Monday till Friday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. At other times and on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, patients can receive help within the night-time and holiday health care.
In the case of primary health care, patients are admitted on the day of registration. This is of particular importance in acute conditions and sudden illnesses.
As for chronic conditions – when the patient continues the prescribed course of treatment and his or her state does not deteriorate, a visit with the primary care physician takes place on a date agreed between the service provider and the patient.
Patients choose their primary care physicians by signing a declaration at the service provider. However, there is a certain limitation – the number of patients covered by one primary care physician should not exceed 2750.
As part of primary health care, patients choose not just a physician, but also a nurse and a midwife.
The place of a primary care physician in the system
Primary care physicians decide on the diagnosis, treatment methods, and also the potential referral of a patient to a hospital. They also provide preventive measures to protect against diseases and potential disability and refer patients to secondary care services.
They can also diagnose chronic illnesses and oversee the treatment process.
Primary health care includes circulatory disease prevention, postpartum visits, check-ups (e.g. screening tests), preventive vaccinations (compulsory and recommended), laboratory diagnostics, imaging, and other diagnostics.
When referring patients to specialists, primary care physicians should provide the results of the examination which made them decide to continue treatment. Secondary care centres should not, however, make the initial admission of the patient dependent on receiving such documents.
Referring a patient to a free diagnostic test, a physician should act only on medical grounds. It is not the physician’s duty to hand a referral upon the patient’s request. Physicians should also inform patients which centres provide the tests they were referred to using resources from the National Health Fund. Patients who choose another diagnostic facility must pay for the services themselves.
Medical spa and physiotherapy treatment
Primary care physicians also distribute medical spa treatment requests and requests for certain orthopaedic and assisting means.
What’s more, primary care physicians can fill in prescriptions for reimbursed medicines and their medical documentation should include the medical rationale for such prescriptions. A primary care physician can also continue the pharmacological treatment recommended by a specialist physician if his or her documentation includes a certificate of illness, showing the treatment method and prescribed medicines.
A primary care physician can also refer the patient to physiotherapy or rehabilitation treatment.
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