To help patients get a better understanding on how to receive the best healthcare when they are travelling within the European Union, DG SANTE published a Toolbox for National Contact Points(NCPs) and Patients on Cross-border Healthcare. By releasing a set of glossaries, manuals, and leaflets, the European Commission aims to help both patients and NCPs to get a grasp on how the process of cross-border healthcare works in practice.
It is seen that many patients are not informed properly about their rights of treatment and do not take into account possible barriers they could face. Without knowledge on which papers to bring or being aware of the financial implications one might face, it can be challenging to find the right treatment.
For patients, the Toolbox offers practical tips, tricks and a useful guide on how to proceed when one is having issues in another country. For National Contact Points, the Toolbox presents web-lectures, checklists, and evaluation/self-assessment forms. The toolbox provides information and translates the Directive on Cross-border Healthcare into comprehensible documents accessible to everyone.
Find the Toolbox here.
