The Ministry of Health banned referring patients for certificates: what to do now for doctors.

Medical documents are formed by the doctor treating you

According to inkorr.com: According to the Ministry of Health, the main medical documents are formed directly by the treating physician, without the need for additional referrals or requests.

According to the Ministry of Health, referring patients to a family doctor solely to obtain a medical conclusion about temporary incapacity for work (for e-Sick Leave) or e-Referral is a violation of established norms.

What is included in the EHR?

According to the current legislation, medical institutions (regardless of their ownership form) are required to keep all main documents related to treatment and the provision of services.

• medical conclusions about birth and temporary incapacity (for e-Sick Leaves);
• e-Prescriptions for medications and medical products;
• medical records about your visits;
• referrals for examinations, treatment, or consultations;
• results of rehabilitation examinations.

Medical conclusion about temporary incapacity (MCTI)

The medical conclusion about temporary incapacity (for e-Sick Leave) is formed by your treating doctor after examination and confirmation of the fact of loss of working capacity. Referring to a family doctor solely for the issuance of this document is unnecessary bureaucracy and does not comply with legal requirements.

Electronic referrals

An e-Referral is formed by the doctor who provides you assistance and decided to refer you for examination. The initiating doctor is also required to enter data into the EHR.

To use the service for e-Referral:

• you must inform the medical facility staff of the referral number;
• check the status of the referral in the EHR and find out about the possibility of receiving services under the Medical Guarantee Program;
• agree on the choice of doctor, date, and time when you can receive services.

It is also important that to receive services under the e-Referral, you are not allowed to require a paper copy of the document.

Therefore, doctors must independently form the main medical documents without referring patients to other specialists. All these documents must be stored in the EHR for future use and access.