There is an agreement on waiting lists. The Government and the Regions have reached an agreement on the national level of waiting lists in healthcare for the three-year period 2019-2021. The agreement provides for an allocation of 150 million euros for 2018 and another 100 for the next two years, but above all new rules that each Region will have to undertake to respect in order to try to remedy the very long waiting times that patients have to often address for NHS medical benefits.
The green light to the text will arrive in the afternoon in the State-Regions Conference, but the – important – changes have already been defined. Among the most significant innovations, the obligation for the Regions to indicate the maximum times for all healthcare services stands out. Not only that, reservations will be managed by the Cups (Single Reservation Centers), for which an implementation of online services is also envisaged, in order to allow waiting lists to be consulted directly from the web and in real time. And again: in cases of first services, recourse to an accredited private individual will be envisaged, paying only the ticket, while the obligation to monitor outpatient care is established, which is provided in intramural free profession on behalf of and at the expense of the user.
The new legislation is expected to come into force next July.
WAITING LISTS: PRIORITY CLASSES
Asl and hospitals will have to indicate the times of all the services provided (previously there were 58). There are still 4 priority classes to be assigned for the outpatient clinic:
- Urgent (within 72 hours);
- short (within 10 days);
- deferrable (within 30 days for visits or 60 days for analyses);
- scheduled (within 120 days, today they are 180).
There are also 4 classes for hospitalizations:
- A, serious case, within 30 days;
- B, complex clinical case to be dealt with within 60 days;
- C, less complex case: within 180 days;
- D, non-serious case: within 12 months.
WAITING LISTS: SPECIFIC CASES
For cardiovascular and oncological cases, the Regions will have to identify PDTA (Pathways Diagnostic Therapeutic Assistance) characterized by specific groups of outpatient, inpatient or territorial services.
For chronic patients there will be "ad hoc" pathways, different from those envisaged for "first accesses" and in general for all non-chronic users for recipes and check-ups there will be no need to go to the family doctor , but the specialist will do everything.
THE INTRAMOENIA
The services provided in private practice cannot exceed the institutional ones and the doctor will have to devote himself to them for a number of hours lower than that contractually due both for outpatient and hospitalization activities, following a principle according to which the private practice represents "one exceptional and temporary tool for managing lists and limiting waiting times”.
