In response to complaints, the NTA Regional Service in Larissa, in cooperation with the Central Service, carried out an audit on the legality of the referral procedures, the prescription, the admission and the hospitalisation conditions of insured persons for closed hospitalisation or outpatient treatment in a rehabilitation centre of the Thessaly Prefecture for the first half of 2019 and the first quarter of 2023.
The audit revealed:
(a) prescribing and dispensing medications in the Centre of insured persons during their hospitalization at the Centre, as opposed to:
- The terms of the contract No. 8925/12.03.2012 between the rehabilitation Centre and the National Organisation for Health Care Services Provision (EOPYY), which prohibited outpatient prescribing for the period of time the insured was hospitalized at the Centre and
- Article 44 of the EALA/G.P.46846/01.10.2018 Ministerial Decision, in so far as it prohibits the electronic prescription of medicines and referral of examinations to the closed hospitalization Centre before discharge. The financial burden of the EOPYY for drug executions for 27 out of a total of 38 patients examined amounted to 6,063€, with an average cost per inpatient of 224.55€. In 100 inpatients, the financial burden on the EOPYY is estimated at 455,55€ for a period of 9 months in a single health facility and
(b) The fact that the EOPPY’s electronic prescription system does not cover the prescription and supply of medicines, consumables and medical procedures (examinations, physiotherapy, etc.) for in-patients, since there is no procedure for updating its information systems with those of the Social Security e-Government (HDIKA), to the detriment of the EOPYY.
The NTA Audit Team sent a document to the EOPYY to ensure, in collaboration with the HDIKA and in the context of the interoperability of their information systems, the implementation of an access restriction function "electronic lock" in the Personal Security Number (AMKA) of patients hospitalised in public and private care facilities, including the Rehabilitation Centre, in order to avoid financial burdens for the EOPYY during the hospitalisation of insured persons.