Poland: Court rules medical facilities must ensure effective telephone registration

A Polish Voivodeship Administrative Court has upheld a decision by the Patient Rights Ombudsman regarding telephone registration at medical facilities. The court ruled that healthcare providers must ensure patients have a realistic ability to reach clinics by phone, rather than merely providing a number that is difficult to connect to. The court accepted a 75 percent successful call connection rate as a reasonable and proportionate metric for measuring accessibility.

In a related development regarding healthcare accessibility, Poland is expanding its central e-registration system. This service allows patients to book appointments and screenings, such as mammographies and HPV tests, through the Internet Patient Account (IKP) or the mojeIKP application. The Ministry of Health aims to include 40 different types of medical services in the central system by the end of 2027.