The Ministry of Health presented an amendment to Act No.578/2004, which brings positive changes to both patients and health care providers. The legislation referred to above is based on application practice and has been incorporated on the basis of professional suggestions and suggestions from representatives of hospitals, the outpatient sector, self-governing regions, health insurance companies and other entities. The planned effectiveness of the changes has been proposed since 1.1.2025," Zuzana Dolinková, Minister for Health.
The amendment brings a number of changes for patients in different areas of healthcare:
Prescription of medication when a person leaves hospital for a maximum of 28 days After being released from hospital, the patient will have a new prescribed medication for up to 1 month and chooses it at the pharmacy, not going away with medication for only 3 days as before.
Extension of the deadline for referral from a specialist to a general practitionerThe recommendation for prescription from a general physician specialist will be for 12 months. The modification shall ensure that, if a general practitioner wishes to prescribe prescriptively limited medicinal products, he may prescribe these medicinal products and the patient may not have to visit a specialist.
Medical device prescription during hospitalisationIf, during hospitalization, the need for the use of a medical device or an individual medical device is indicated and the use of the device is also necessary after discharge from hospital, the constitutional health institution may prescribe it to the patient as early as during hospitalization.
Nursing services provided to a household childThe treatment supports the availability and quality of health care carried out in the home environment of mother and child in the form of home nursing agencies in cooperation with the hospital, which lets the child into home care and care pediatrician, especially mothers and newborns with special medical needs, disabled, but also foreigners in the territory of the Slovak Republic and families from socially weaker environment.
Changes in ePN (temporary incapacity for work)After a new patient, the emergency medical doctor (APS) or dental APS will be able to issue a certificate of temporary incapacity for work, i.e. classical PN. In case the service provider assesses that PN exposure is necessary to the patient's health. This means that the patient does not need to visit his general physician afterwards.
Changes will also occur at the end of ePN. Once new, it will be possible to conclude it To be decided by the medical examiner of the Social Insurance Institution and subsequently PN will be concluded by the general practitioner.
Preventive examination by a specialist doctor without an exchange ticketFor preventive urological examination and preventive gastroenterological examination there will be no need for an exchange ticket from a general physician.
Visit to a specialised office without an exchange ticket within 2 years of the last visitIf the patient gets ill within 2 years of the last visit to the specialist, he will be able to visit a specialised ambulance even without an exchange ticket issued by the general practitioner.
Mental - Health CareThe introduction of community, cross-cutting and comprehensive care that can be provided in the home natural environment of a person, taking into account his or her individual health needs, will ease beds in hospitals as he or she can be managed in the home environment.
The waiting periods extend to the entire planned healthcareFrom January 2025, proposals for planned healthcare will cover all medical services provided for by the categorisation of institutional healthcare.
Modification of the indication list for spa careAfter a new period of insurance over 75 years before spa treatment, a doctor's examination and not an internalist will be sufficient. This age limit is postponed by 5 years. Another change will be the reduction in the epilepsy time when the patient could not receive spa treatment, from 3 years to 1 year. Spa treatment indications associated with COVID-19 are deleted. Within the selected diagnosis, the physician of physiatria, balneology and medical rehabilitation was added as an indication physician. The indications for skin diseases were also modified.
TelemedicineThe legislative framework for telemedicine in the healthcare system in Slovakia is defined. This amendment makes telemedicine part of healthcare provision.
Advice from the health insurance undertaking to the insured person and to the insured personOne of the activities of the health insurance undertaking shall be specified concerning advice on the exercise of public health insurance provided to the insured person and the insured person. It should be clarified that advice may also cover advice on health, health and disease management programmes, lifestyles and health.
Changes concerning healthcare providers:
Taking the patient between hospitals
The treatment ensures that highly specialised beds are released for other patients. This means that if the patient no longer needs the highly specialised care, he will be taken to the hospital as close as possible to his permanent residence for comprehensive treatment. This is also the case.
Expert representative for devices with the same professional focusThe provision ensures that if, for example, a psychiatric specialist doctor who operates a psychiatric ward can also open a psychiatric ward and be an expert in both facilities. The expert can only perform at the office-follow-up facility with the same professional focus - in addition to stationers, also at SVLZ workplaces or JZS facilities. With this adjustment, we expect to increase the availability of outpatient healthcare.
Administrative health workerIn order to relieve healthcare professionals from administrative activities, providers will be able to employ an administrative worker who will be authorised to handle the medical documentation to the extent specified.
New public optimal network of specialised officesThe amendment defines a dynamic network of specialised outpatient care to respond on an annual basis to changing needs and demographics.
Publicly available ambulanceA sign of public availability is introduced for ambulances. It says that the patient can visit this specialized practice mostly as the first contact after being sent to general practitioners based on an exchange ticket. If the ambulance does not have a sign of public availability, this means that it is a highly specialised ambulance to which the patient gets access after a recommendation from a specialised ambulance or in cases where the ambulance provides care for patients when they are admitted or released from hospital or for short-term patient monitoring.
List of health performances and their featuresAn enabling provision is added so that the list of health performances may contain an indication of the duration of the health performance in minutes, the assessment of health performance at points or prices, the rules for the creation of points or prices, as well as an indication of whether the performance is fully, partially or not covered by public health insurance. It is left that the list of health performances is issued by the government of the Slovak Republic by government regulation. It is also provided that, before a new health performance is included in the list of health performances to be issued by a government regulation, the correctness of health performance must be verified.
Modification of the use of restrictive meansRestrictive means will only be registered in relation to persons with a mental disorder and not in all somatic departments. It is modified what is considered as a restriction agent and modified data collection.
Conducting a clinical audit of medical exposure in a medical facilityIt emphasises the safety of health professionals who carry out work activities in workplaces related to medical exposure.
Treatment of screeningsThe distribution into population and opportunistic screening is abolished. This is a technical adjustment as recommended by the Council of the European Union.