Cardiology and prevention to take off. New patient registration system getting closer

The Health Ministry has submitted a draft regulation on central electronic registration for consultation. The new regulation is expected to detail four key areas related to the operation of central electronic registration:

1. Scope of benefits covered by the system,
2. The period of availability of admission schedules with free dates,
3. Method of notifying the patient of dates and changes in benefits,
4. Verification period of available terms for a given benefit.

How will the new system work? Mandatory registration for selected benefits

According to the draft regulation, as of January 1, 2026, central electronic registration will be covered first:

• cardiology services,
• examinations and benefits for cervical cancer and breast cancer prevention programs.

The choice of these areas is due to the continuation of the pilot, which was intended to prepare the IT system and providers for full nationwide integration. More benefits will be added gradually - based on an analysis of the number of waiting patients, average waiting times and conditions for the delivery of services.

According to the draft, from August 1, 2026, the list of benefits covered by the system will be expanded. The detailed catalog was included in an appendix to the regulation.

Communication with the patient: notifications via IKP, e-mail, SMS and voice assistant

One of the goals of the proposed regulations is to improve contact with patients. The regulation provides that information about:

• the designated benefit date,
• its change,
• upcoming visit date,
• resignation rules,

will be communicated to patients through multiple channels.

The primary contact tool will be the Internet Patient Account (IKP) - both in the web version and in the mobile application. It will be complemented by:

• email messages,
• SMS notifications,
• and, in certain situations, a voice assistant.

The solutions are expected to streamline the flow of information and significantly reduce the number of missed appointments.

Providers' responsibilities: full schedules and 3-month range of available appointments

The draft regulation also clarifies the obligations of providers. The facilities will be required to:

• continuous availability of full admission schedules,
• covering all available and booked dates,
• for at least three full consecutive months.

The schedules are to be transferred to a teleinformatics system in accordance with Article 19a of the Law on the Health Care Information System. This will give patients a full and transparent view of the real availability of services.

Term verification: 40 or 90 days

The regulation also specifies the time for the system to verify the availability of appointments after a patient is first reported:

• 40 days - for the benefits listed in point I of the Appendix,
• 90 days - for benefits under II.

If, within this period, a date for the provision of services that meets, among other things, the criteria specified by the recipient reporting to the provider for the first time is not found and scheduled, the recipient is placed on the central waiting list and remains there until a vacant date for the provision of health care that meets the criteria specified by the recipient appears.

Goal: greater transparency, better planning and improved accessibility

The Health Ministry stresses that the introduction of the regulation is expected to improve the management of the availability of services nationwide. Central electronic registration will allow:

• Ongoing monitoring of applications,
• Equal use of resources of medical facilities,
• Faster response to changes in schedules,
• Reducing the phenomenon of so-called "empty visits."

Patients, meanwhile, will gain constant access to up-to-date information on the status of their enrollment and will be able to manage their registration through electronic communications.

Source: RCL