Doctor’s home visit - when you can use it and how to make an appointment

Home visits are most commonly used by the elderly, the chronically ill and the disabled. It happens that parents of infants and young children also enjoy regular medical consultations at home. Each insured patient, if necessary, can exercise the right to visit a doctor at home on the day of notification or at a time agreed with the doctor..

Each GP is obliged to inform his patients about the possibility of home visits. At the same time, the doctor is also obliged to inform patients about the available methods of obtaining a consultation outside the usual opening hours of the polyclinic, from 18:00 to 10:00, on weekends and holidays. The doctor should advertise the availability of medical advice, for example by posting it on a bulletin board inside and outside the facility so that patients have easy access to information that is important to them.

Departure of the doctor at home - what you need to know?

There is nothing new in visiting a doctor at a patient’s home. For a long time, regulations have provided for the possibility of receiving medical advice at home. Improved access to basic health services has made home visits a somewhat forgotten way to get medical advice in case of sudden illness and inability to get to a primary health care clinic.

However, it is worth emphasizing that the doctor does not have to visit every patient who reports such a need. In accordance with Decree No. 72/2009/DSPH of November 3, 2009, patients have the right to home visits in case of sudden illness, as well as when the patient’s health begins to deteriorate and he cannot go to the clinic, for example, due to mobility restrictions. In accordance with applicable regulations patients have the right to home visits outside of clinic hours, which many people are unaware of. Moreover, patients are also entitled to home visits on holidays and weekends.

A therapist or, for example, a pediatrician has the right to refuse a home visit in several situations. One of them is the deterioration of health as a result of, for example, traffic accidents, accidents at work, falls from a height or other sudden situations that threaten health and life. In such a situation, the emergency medical system should provide assistance. In an emergency, we will get care by calling the 112 emergency number, not at a Primary Health Care (POZ) clinic.

What can be considered an emergency?

A case that requires an ambulance call rather than a phone call to a POZ medical facility, for example. suffocation, cardiac arrest, sudden shortness of breath, loss of consciousness, symptoms of a stroke, falling from a height, electric shock, alarming symptoms in a pregnant woman, etc.

It is important to know that the family doctor cannot provide emergency care for several reasons. Above all:

1. must perform his duties in the polyclinic where registered patients are waiting.

2. does not have the necessary equipment and drugs that are used to save lives.

3. In emergency cases, time is of the essence, so it is necessary to call an ambulance, which will not only arrive faster to the patient in need, but also take him to the hospital.

Can a doctor refuse a home visit?

In accordance with Decree No. 72/2009/DSPH of November 3, 2009, medical consultation at the beneficiary’s home must be justified by medical reasons. The days and hours of admission, including the time allotted for the implementation of the recommendations provided at home, are indicated, among other things, in the doctor’s work schedule.

You should not abuse the opportunity to take advantage of home advice, which sometimes happens. Doctor’s home visits are provided only for persons who, due to a sudden deterioration in health, a chronic disease or a disability that limits the ability to go to the clinic, cannot use medical care in the traditional way.

It can be difficult for the patient and physician to determine whether a doctor’s house call is appropriate. For this reason, the doctor has the right to refuse consultation at the patient’s home, and if consultation is not possible, the patient has the right to file a complaint with the Ombudsman for the rights of the insured persons at the relevant regional branch of the National Health Fund.. The patient also has the right to change the attending physician. In order to avoid misunderstandings and related problems, it is necessary to provide the doctor with all the information about the current state of the patient’s health and the situation that prompts the use of home visits when making an appointment.

When should the home visit take place?

The current rules take into account the need to provide medical consultation at the patient’s home on the day of notification if the patient requires urgent consultation due to a serious medical condition. For people with chronic conditions, a home consultation may be provided on a date agreed between the doctor and the patient or caregiver, such as the next business day.

How to make an appointment with a doctor at the patient’s home?

The family doctor can register the patient for a home visit in person at the polyclinic and by phone, as well as by another person.

The rules for the provision of medical services in a polyclinic and at a patient’s home are set out in the Decree of the President of the National Health Fund dated November 3, 2009 No. 72/2009/DSOS on determining the conditions for concluding and executing contracts. for services such as primary health care.

Sources:

• Decree of the Minister of Health of August 29, 2009 on guaranteed benefits in the field of primary health care - Legal Gazette No. 139, item 1139, as amended; Department of Health Organizations
• Law of 27 August 2004 on health care services financed from public funds - consolidated text: Legal Gazette. 2008, No. 164, Art. 1027 from d.