Members of the parliamentary commission on social and labor affairs stated that they caught the minister on his word and will demand a report, public media writes.
Long queues to see doctors are on the agenda of the Saeima deputies.
It will soon be impossible to sign up for appointments at different medical institutions simultaneously.
The reason for this is the promise of the Minister of Health that with the help of a unified digital appointment system, queues can be reduced by 15-20%.
The issue of queues and healthcare quotas has once again come to the agenda of the Saeima. How is it possible that people wait not weeks or months, but years to see a doctor? This question was raised on Wednesday, December 10, during a meeting of the Saeima's Social and Labor Affairs Committee while discussing queues to doctors and the system of state quotas. This was reported in detail by the news service of Latvian Television in December.
Part of the problem will be addressed next year through the modernization of healthcare information systems and the creation of registries. Currently, electronic referrals to doctors have been introduced. The state intends to fully transition to electronic referrals starting in May next year, but gradually.
"We are not launching a finished product that everyone habitually criticizes right away. This time everything will happen gradually," explained Juris Gaikis, a board member of the Latvian Center for Digital Health.
The digital referral will allow not only doctors but also policymakers in the sector to track patient flows: when the referral is issued, when the patient signs up for a visit, and when the service is received. All data will be in one place, which will help avoid repeating the same actions in a short period.
"When I go to my family doctor for a check-up, he sees that I just had blood drawn after visiting a dermatologist. Therefore, the family doctor does not issue unnecessary referrals for tests, as there is no need for that. The patient no longer needs to carry the entire folder with all the documents," noted Aiga Balode, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Health.
With the introduction of digital appointments, it will no longer be possible to sign up for queues at different medical institutions simultaneously. According to the Minister of Health, the digital appointment system could reduce the queue by about one-fifth, considering that some people sign up but do not show up for their visits.
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