The Regional Secretary for Health signed on Friday the first vouchers, in the amount 23,000 Euros, thus putting into practice the new tool which was created by the Regional Government for the payment of surgeries for users of the Regional Health Service.
 
Saudaçor is preparing the proceedings to carry on this project which aims to reduce surgery waiting lists. Under this programme 86 surgeries will be performed, 54 in the areas of Orthopaedics, 19 in Ophthalmology and 13 in Urology.

The preparation of the processes is carried out in collaboration with hospitals; the patient’s interest and availability are confirmed, the clinical procedures are prepared, such as testing and other diagnostic aids, which are determined for each type of surgery, and the surgery date is scheduled with the entity providing the service.

Initially, the legislation stipulated that only entities belonging to the social sector, such as charitable institutions and private Social Solidarity institutions were eligible to apply for these surgeries. However, the amendment, approved at the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores in March this year, extended the scope of this initiative, allowing other private entities headquartered in the Region or in Mainland Portugal to perform these surgeries.

According to the Regional Secretary for Health, there are some private clinics interested in providing this service.
In the year 2011, 350 thousand Euros will be allocated to the health voucher, in addition to the amount of one million Euros that has been granted to the programme to recover surgery waiting lists in regional hospitals.

If hospital units do not provide the expected response, the financial aid awarded to the health voucher might be reinforced so that more surgeries may be performed in private clinics, which will rapidly reduce surgery waiting lists.