The health system guarantees insured persons the obtaining of external prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs, prescribed by doctors of the public health network and which are included in the portfolio of the current national health system.
Who can prescribe it?
Orthoprosthetic articles can only be prescribed by:
— medical professionals specialized in the field who work in a center of the public health network and
— family and community medicine specialists in primary healthcare centers (in this case, only certain articles in the catalog are available).
The healthcare professional will deliver a document called PAO (Orthoprosthetic Article Prescription) to the center's Processing Unit.
Is the authorization immediate?
It all depends on the article prescribed. Some items require an authorization from the Health Region which can take between 24-48 hours. Other more specific articles require, apart from the prescription, a justification by means of a medical report, in which case we send the documentation by certified mail to your Health Region of reference, so that the responsible Cat Health Commission can evaluate the request. Resolution in these cases can take a month or more, depending on whether or not additional reports are requested. In any case, whether the resolution is positive or negative, a response will be received by certified mail.
What do I do once I have the PAO authorized?
With the document it is necessary to go to any affiliated orthopedic center. Some items have a standard cost, indicated in the aforementioned document, which will be the only financial contribution you will have to make.
What is health validation?
Some articles to be adaptable or to be approved by the prescribing physician require health validation. In this case, the orthopedist will re-deliver the PAO to the prescribing healthcare professional together with the prescribed article so that, through a new signature and stamp, the healthcare professional can confirm that the delivered article is the right one.
Can a previously prescribed item be renewed?
In the authorization that will be delivered to the Processing Unit, you will be able to see if the item is renewable and the period in which it can be renewed if that is the case.