10.04.2025 15:41
The Social Security Institution has updated the Health Application Communiqué with a new regulation. With this change, family doctors can now directly create hospital appointments for patients. This step aims to make access to healthcare services faster and easier.
The Social Security Institution (SGK) has enabled family physicians to create hospital appointments for patients with the Regulation on Amendments to the Health Implementation Communiqué.
The Regulation on Amendments to the Health Implementation Communiqué was published in the Official Gazette last week and has come into effect. With this regulation, the number of medications that can be prescribed by family physicians and are included in the reimbursement list has increased. In line with the regulation that expands the scope of medication reports that can be issued by family physicians and internal medicine specialists, certain hypertension medications, artificial tears and eye drops, shampoos and creams used for skin diseases can now be prescribed by family physicians without a report for specified periods. Renewals of reports for certain anticoagulants, food and formulas used in celiac disease, and some medications used in the treatment of seasonal or year-round allergic rhinitis can now be done by family medicine specialists after the initial diagnosis made by relevant specialist physicians.
"THE EASIEST THING HAS BECOME MAKING APPOINTMENTS"
Family physician Şah Hüseyin Söğüt, who works at the Sincan Peçenek Family Health Center, stated, "With the changes made under the regulation, the most important thing for us is that we can create hospital appointments for patients whenever we want. Previously, we had closed outpatient clinics. Patients had to wait 1 month or 1.5 months for an appointment. But now we can create appointments for patients for the next day or even the same day. For our patients, the easiest thing has become making appointments. For patients who do not come regularly, we now have a general control called the Disease Management Platform (HYP). We have started to call all patients for sugar checks, thyroid checks, and cholesterol follow-ups. Additionally, with this latest regulation, we now have medications for elderly patients or heart patients that are used as vasodilators, or rather anticoagulants. Previously, a cardiology report was required to obtain these. Based on the cardiology report, a cardiologist could prescribe them; but now we can also prescribe them. There were also creams used in acne treatment prescribed by dermatologists. We will now be able to prescribe those as well. We also had shampoos used for body fungus prescribed by dermatologists. Their reimbursements are now accepted when we prescribe them," he said.
"NOW EVERYONE KNOWS THEIR FAMILY PHYSICIAN"
Explaining the advantages of the regulation, Söğüt said, "Now patients will go to their nearest family physicians instead of constantly going back and forth between different outpatient clinics. Previously, they had to make an appointment for this, they had to go. They could get prescriptions from the doctor or the physician at the hospital and then come back to us to get them. But now, when we prescribe it, the patient can directly obtain it, and the inconvenience is eliminated. If a patient comes to us regularly based on the necessary specialist control once a year or every six months, they will have a more comfortable and easier life. Because many people did not know or recognize their family physicians. Now everyone knows their family physician. They know they have to go to the family physician. When they go, they do not face any issues, whether it is for blood tests or obtaining medications. Additionally, currently, among our chronic patients, artificial tears are particularly needed for those over 40, as dry eyes are very common, especially due to the new generation's exposure to screens. Not being able to find an appointment was a bit problematic in such cases, but now they can come directly and talk to their family physician and receive the necessary treatment. For our hypertension patients, ARB group medications can now also be prescribed. We believe that the blood pressure monitoring of patients will be better controlled. From our perspective, in terms of family medicine, monitoring and treating diseases will be easier," he concluded.