As of September 17, patients can make appointments with optometrists, psychologists and sports medicine doctors without a referral. This is the result of an amendment to the law on services financed by the National Health Fund, which aims to facilitate access to specialists and shorten queues.
Easier access to specialists. As of September 17
Published Sept. 18, 2025 08:29
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On September 17, 2025, regulations went into effect to simplify patients' access to some specialists. According to an amendment to the law on publicly funded health care services, a referral is no longer required to see an optometrist, psychologist and sports medicine doctor.
The changes are intended to speed up diagnosis and assistance:
- Optometrists will be able to make their own referrals to ophthalmologists, simplifying the process of diagnosing and treating eye diseases.
- A psychologist will become more readily available to those in need of support, facilitating prevention and early response to mental health problems.
- A sports medicine doctor will more quickly provide consultations to physically active people - including children and adolescents - allowing for earlier detection of overloads and prevention of injuries.
The new regulations are also expected to relieve the burden on primary care physicians, who have so far referred patients to the aforementioned specialists. This is expected to shorten queues, reduce unnecessary visits and make better use of public funds.
Source: MZ
Topics
skierowanie / optometrysta / psycholog / pomoc medyczna / lekarz medycyny sportowej / bez skierowania / diagnostyka
