|
HEALTH SYSTEMS IN ITALY
In Italy healthcare is provided by two parallel coexisting systems:
the state-run public health system and the private sector.
All Italians are entitled to use the former; European citizens are
in general permitted to enroll, but they usually need to make
provisions with their national health system in advance. Extra-EU
foreigners are not covered.
In the public system you have to choose a specific family physician
(and pediatrician for children); you can see him free of charge, and
if you are admitted to a hospital you will not be charged either.
For most of the lab tests you will pay only part of the cost (so
called “ticket”); same thing for some medications (“Fascia A”),
while “Fascia C” drugs will have to be paid in full.
If you are not covered by the state system, you will receive a bill
in case of care given during admission in a public hospital (you
won’t be asked to pay in advance) but you will have to pay on the
spot for outpatient services.
EMERGENCIES
Call 118 and an ambulance will take you to the nearest hospital; if
you call a private ambulance company you can decide which hospital
you want to go (obviously this is not advised if you have a
life-threatening condition).
Private hospitals and clinics by law cannot have Emergency Rooms.
Rome American Hospital could be used in an emergency anyway since it
has a well equipped Intensive Care and Coronary Care Unit and
physicians on call 24 hours a day on the premises.
PRESCRIPTIONS AND MEDICATIONS
Like in many countries, we have prescription medications, generic
equivalents and over the counter drugs. Pharmacies are normally open
from 8:30 am to 7:30 – 8 pm Monday to Friday; any other time only
few rotating pharmacies will stay open, and their address and
schedule will be posted in all the pharmacies of the same
neighborhood. Some pharmacies are open every night (piazza Barberini,
Viale Europa, etc). Most of the European and American drugs are
available in Italy, but often there is a delay in introducing new
medications and names may be different. Be particularly careful with
Insulin (mixed formulations may have inverted percentages), although
syringes have the same calibration. Medications not available in
Italy are often found at the Vatican pharmacy: you will need a
prescription to enter Vatican City just right of St. Peter’s and go
to the pharmacy.
If you don’t find an Italian drug, there are two possibilities:
either the pharmacy will tell you it will be available within 24
hours, or it is not available at all (this happens rarely for the
most strange reasons, such as the manufacturing company changing the
packaging!)
LAB TESTS
Most Lab facilities will do blood testing in the morning without
appointment, but check the time (often between 8 and 10 am); any
other tests (such as ECG, sonograms, X-rays, etc) have to be
scheduled. You will be expected to pay immediately (credit cards are
usually accepted) and to go back in person to pick up the results
(or send somebody with a signed permit and your ID). In general labs
do not send results to your physician! In Italy patients, not
doctors, keep all their records and should bring them when they go
for the first time to see a physician.
FOOD, WATER, AIR, SEA…
We have good hygienic regulations and Italian food is famous
worldwide…. but of course as anywhere else even in Rome you may get
food poisoning, which luckily is often self limited to 1-2 days. You
do not need typhoid vaccine, but I always recommend to my patients
to get vaccinated for hepatitis A: not really dangerous, but if you
catch it (from uncooked contaminated food, particularly seafood) you
will be miserable for several weeks. Tap water in Rome is safe,
tastes good and is very high in Calcium. Pollution limits are often
overcome in the city, and pollen concentration is very dense in
spring – so you are advised if you are allergic or asthmatic…
There are many beaches near Rome, but again pollution is sometimes
present (look for signs or flags) and constant for the Tiber: never
swim there! |