Agenas has published the national model for renewing therapy from home. Here’s how it works, who it’s aimed at and what to do to find out if the service is already active in your facility
Renew your treatment plan without leaving home? For those who have a chronic illness and have to return to the specialist every few months just to have a treatment confirmed, it may soon be possible. The National Agency for Regional Health Services (Agenas) has in fact developed a national model for renewing via televisit, i.e. with a remote medical check-up. The document is online on the National Telemedicine Platform. This doesn’t mean that a video call will be enough and everything won’t change overnight. The model is a guide for the Regions and healthcare companies, who will have to transform it into a real service.
Renewal of the remote treatment plan: how it works
The therapeutic plan is the document with which the specialist authorizes the prescription of certain drugs, establishing for how long and under what conditions they should be taken. Every now and then it must be renewed: it serves to check that the treatment is still good and that the patient is still entitled to it. The new model envisages a six-phase process. It starts from monitoring the deadline, goes through the preparation and the online visit and ends with the registration of the outcome, the renewal and the report in the electronic health record, i.e. the personal digital archive of health documents. Before the appointment the patient can send tests and answer questions about the progress of the treatment. At the end, the specialist can confirm the therapy, change it, suspend it or not renew the plan.
Who can renew the therapeutic plan via televisit and when an in-person visit is needed
It is the doctor who decides whether a patient can renew the treatment plan via televisit. It will not be possible for anyone with a therapeutic plan, and the prescription rules established by law and by Aifa remain unchanged. If a physical examination, new tests or different symptoms appear, the patient will be referred for an in-person visit. The model can also be applied to family doctors, for plans that they can already renew independently.
Renewal of the therapeutic plan: when to start the procedure
To avoid interruptions in treatment, Agenas suggests starting the procedure indicatively at least 30 days before the deadlinewith automatic alerts and dedicated agendas. This way there is time to submit the exams and schedule the televisit without reaching the last day.
Elderly and frail: the risk of televisiting becoming an obstacle
The convenience of visiting from However, home can be a boomerang for those who most need to avoid having to go in person. What does an elderly person who lives alone, without a smartphone or with little familiarity with video calls, do? For him, an online connection can be an obstacle rather than an advantage. For this reason, an assessment is planned, before starting the telematic process, to check whether the patient is able to face the televisit. When needed, you can count on the help of a family member, a caregiver or support staff to accompany the connection. Those who are not eligible continue to be followed in person. What to do, practically speaking, if you have an active treatment plan? Ask the prescribing center, a little in advance, if the telemedicine renewal service is active, which tests to send before the visit and if help is provided for those who have difficulty connecting.
