Orthopaedic technical devices
Orthopaedic technical devices (OTD) are splints, supplementary and replaceable body part prostheses, which are attached externally to a certain body part to strengthen it, improve its functions, alleviate consequences of a disease or injury, assist musculoskeletal system, that is: prosthetic limbs, breast prosthesis, custom-made splints, mass-produced splints, complex custom-made orthopedic footwear, simple custom-made orthopedic footwear and shoe inserts.
Orthopaedic companies, that have signed agreements with the National Health Insurance Fund under the Ministry of Health (NHIF), provide OTD to people, insured with compulsory health insurance. The NHIF compensates the costs for the production of OTD and (or) their adaptation to these orthopedic companies as well as the costs of the insured who purchased OTD at their own expense.
A doctor or a consilium of doctors shall indicate in the insured person’s medical documents, that he or she has been prescribed with OTD. Also, the patient must receive a detailed information about OTD reimbursement procedure and a list of orthopedic companies having agreements with the NHIF. It is important to know that a doctor or a consilium of doctors prescribing OTD may prescribe only one remedy to one nosological disease unit (with related symptoms) in the same anatomical area (except insured persons diagnosed with diabetes).
An orthopaedic company, that accepts the order, must inform the insured person about OTD reimbursement procedure, check whether a person is insured with compulsory health insurance and inform about the possibilities to acquire OTD at their own expense. If an orthopedic company, to which the insured person applies, has a queue for the acceptance of orders for OTD, the insured person must be informed of the length of the waiting time for the order to be accepted and the insured person's registration number. In case of partial reimbursement, co-payment shall be paid by the person to an orthopedic company.
For more information, click here (in Lithuanian).
Prosthetic limbs are designed to replace an amputated body part. Amputations are performed for various reasons, due to congenital or acquired disability: peripheral circulation diseases, metabolic diseases (diabetes causes ulcers or gangrene), injuries, bone tumours, infections (bone diseases). Properly fitted prosthetic limbs partially and, sometimes almost fully, restore a lost function of the disabled, i.e. their possibilities to move independently, to live and work increase, integration of the disabled into the society speeds up.
The National Health Insurance Fund under the Ministry of Health (NHIF) compensates the costs of the production and adaptation of a prosthetic hand, forearm, brachia, shin, femur and pelvis to the disabled from the CHIF.
For more information, click here (Lithuanian).
Orthopaedic footwear, which is paid forMa by the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (CHIF), is intended for children and adults to help compensate for deformities of the foot, for congenital or acquired enlargement of the leg or foot, to correct differences in the length of the leg, and for foot amputations caused by a Chopart or Pirogov amputation. Orthopaedic footwear may also be reimbursed for adults with diabetes mellitus, on the recommendation of an endocrinologist (the recommendation is made at the time of the first prescription of the orthopaedic footwear) for multiple microvascular complications of the foot, and for ulcers on the foot.
To receive orthopaedic footwear reimbursed by the CHIF, the insured person must contact his/her family doctor. The insured person must refer to a specialist for the prescription of orthopaedic footwear after a referral from his/her family doctor. The insured person, with a referral from a specialist (form E027 or 027/a), chooses an orthopaedic company to produce the orthopaedic footwear he or she needs.
Last updated: 01-07-2024