In Latvia, electronic referrals are being introduced: paper ones only in case of system failures 0 38

Starting today, referrals for outpatient and inpatient services will primarily be issued electronically, the Ministry of Health reported. Paper referrals will only be retained as an exception—in case of technical failures.

The transition is enshrined in amendments to the rules on the unified electronic health system, which the government approved on November 4 of last year. This involves a complete abandonment of paper referrals and the gradual implementation of the principle of "one referral—one appointment."

This means that in the future, a patient will be able to schedule an appointment for a specific service only at one medical institution. This system is expected to reduce the number of "double" appointments and decrease the queues that arise from uncancelled visits.

According to the ministry, the issue of no-shows remains significant—patients miss between 15% to 20% of appointments. The new procedure is expected to partially address this problem.

All medical institutions that handle patient data must integrate their systems with the E-veselība portal. Prior to this, doctors and registrars were trained to work with the new format to ensure a smooth transition.

Electronic referrals are already widely used: on average, about 10,000 are issued daily and up to 300,000 monthly. They are automatically saved in the system and accessible to the patient.

The transition to electronic referrals is part of a broader "Digital Health Strategy until 2029," which aims for the gradual digitization of all medical data and services. Electronic prescriptions, sick leaves, test results from 26 laboratories, discharge summaries, and other services are already available in the system.

The implementation of the "one referral—one appointment" principle is planned to begin in the fall of next year.

As a result, the healthcare system is becoming more digital, and scheduling appointments with doctors is becoming more transparent and manageable.