The new Ordinance approving the regulation of the Integrated Management System of Surgery Lists and Health Vouchers in the Azores was published today in the Official Journal.
 
The new system will allow the updating and streamlining of surgery waiting lists at regional hospitals, through the optimised management of operating rooms and surgical times, in order to reduce waiting times and ensure the reliability of information.
 
Moreover, the new integrated system allows the transfer of patients to another hospital of the Regional Health Service whenever the hospital of their area of residence has no response capacity to perform the surgery.
 
If regional hospitals are unable to provide a response, the Health Voucher will be implemented in accordance with the priority order of waiting lists.
 
This Ordinance also approved the new Health Voucher model. According to this legal document, the "patients of the Regional Health Service may have the surgery performed by a private entity. In this context, the voucher serves as payment guarantee and it may be only used in the surgery proposed or similar procedure."
 
According to the document, "the amount of the Health Voucher corresponds to the fee for the surgical procedure to be performed as stipulated in the agreement signed with surgery providers."
 
The implementation of this new system will reduce surgery waiting lists. 
 
The implementation of this model has led to the creation of the Central Management Unit of Surgery Lists in the Azores, which is included in Saudaçor.
 
This entity is responsible for selecting patients to be transferred, issuing and sending Health Vouchers and signing agreements with private entities for the performance of surgeries.
 
This Ordinance enters into force on January 1. As of today, Saudaçor starts the market analysis process to implement the Health Valley and hospitals begin the updating of surgical waiting lists.