Overcharging doctors are not widespread, says HIO

Irregular doctor charges and long waiting times for appointments are not widespread, head of the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) Andreas Papaconstantinou said on Monday.

Speaking on CyBC’s morning programme, Papaconstantinou championed doctors as well as the state health care system (Gesy), saying that, compared with other healthcare systems in Europe, patients in Cyprus in fact had very good access to providers.

The long waiting time for appointments comes down to patients being intent on seeing particular doctors who have made a name for themselves, Papaconstantinou said. This creates an unnecessary bottle neck in certain specialist appointments.

Patients are not at all disadvantaged for hospital admission, Papaconstantinou maintained, though conceding that some specialists, such as endocrinologists, are harder to book.

The problem can be addressed if patients approach their appointments with greater flexibility, such as researching new doctors and giving them a chance, or looking into booking an appointment in another district, “as distances [in Cyprus] are small”, Papaconstantinou claimed.

The HIO for its part, is attempting to curb over-referrals from personal doctors which will further shorten waiting lists, as only those beneficiaries truly in need of an appointment will be seen.

Asked about accusations by patient watchdog Osak, that doctors were charging patients arbitrarily, the HIO head said this was largely a misunderstanding and that if indeed the occasional doctor was proven to be profiteering through illegal charges, severe penalties are in place.

“If anything, we have many known cases of doctors not even charging patients the fees to which they are entitled, such as after a patient has exceeded their visit quota, and we have doctors calling us distraught even upon receiving a minor warning,” Papaconstantinou told the CyBC.

The HIO director clarified that doctors have been instructed to charge for after-hours and weekend appointments at the €25 rate as well as for issuing medical certificates, and these types of charges are therefore legitimate. Though it would be illegal for a doctor to compress all their appointments into afterhours or charge exorbitant fees for certificates, it is not a plausible scenario given the data, Papaconstantinou said.

As for complaints of being charged for phone calls to renew prescriptions, Papaconstantinou explained that this was purely a technical glitch as doctors need to record the transaction under a patient visit tab, which then generates an automated message informing the patient they have been charged.

The HIO is working to correct this by adding nuance to phone call categories within the automated data collection system, Papaconstantinou assured.

Additionally, within four-moths time, the organisation is planning a comprehensive patient-education campaign on how to approach providers within the Gesy system, and is working to institute NICE guidelines, all of which should further improve efficiency and access, Papaconstantinou said.