Medical specialist services

The services of specialist doctors are a visit of a patient for a consultation with a referral for a specific reason (health problem, illness or preventive health examination). During this visit, all the necessary examination and treatment actions for the patient are performed according to the competence of the specialist doctor and written advice is provided to the referring doctor.

Depending on the patient's state of health, the referral is free of charge, i.e. reimbursed by the health insurance funds, by a family doctor or another specialist doctor. A referral is issued if the referring doctor needs to be consulted about the patient's medical condition, to establish or clarify a diagnosis, seek treatment tactics, and so on.

The referral to a specialist doctor indicates the date of issue, validity period, diagnosis of the disease, results of tests performed within the competence of a family doctor or specialist doctor, information about the applied treatment and its effectiveness, professional qualification of the specialist doctor, purpose of referral.

The most important thing is to apply to those medical institutions that have a contract with the territorial health insurance fund. Only then will the services be reimbursed from the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund.

In certain cases, insured residents may consult a specialist without a referral from a family doctor.

Referral is not required in the following cases:

• when a person visits the same specialist for the same reason or has long-term monitoring (dispensarization according to the requirements of the Ministry of Health);
• when a person sees a dermatovenerologist (for skin and venereal diseases), it is only important to make sure that this specialist works in a medical institution that has a contract with the territorial health insurance fund (THIF);
• when a person repeatedly visits the same specialist for the same reason (i.e. if the doctor orders a re-appointment because he or she is still continuing the patient's treatment or examination) or the patient has a chronic illness and is under long-term follow-up;
• at the institution to which the person is registered, it is possible to register with a dentist and apply for mental health care services without any referrals.

In addition to the referral, all residents of our country - both those who are compulsorily insured and those who are not - are provided with emergency medical assistance free of charge and immediately.

For more information (in Lithuanian), click here.