A sharp rise in requests to send patients abroad for treatment has led the Health Insurance Organisation to overhaul the submission process, after identifying delays and operational bottlenecks caused largely by incomplete medical files.
Nearly 400 requests in four months
The Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) was called upon to process almost 400 requests for overseas patient transfers within just four months, a volume that highlighted dysfunctions in the assessment procedure.
Faced with the increased workload and the frequent submission of incomplete documentation, the HIO has introduced new guidelines for doctors and hospitals, effective immediately. The aim is to speed up decision-making and ensure that urgent and life-threatening cases are assessed without unnecessary delays.
Stricter requirements and clearer deadlines
Under the revised framework, requests that are not fully completed or lack adequate medical documentation may be rejected outright. According to the HIO, the need to repeatedly seek missing information from treating physicians has been a major cause of delays in recent months.
The new instructions define more clearly both the documentation required for each application and the timelines within which requests must be submitted.
What the new guidelines require
According to the guidance issued to healthcare providers, all requests must now be submitted through the GESY IT system, fully completed in all mandatory fields and in electronic, typed form.
Each application must include:
- The patient’s diagnosis, clearly stated using the relevant ICD-10 code
- The specific healthcare service proposed to be provided abroad
- A medical report in English, dated within the last 30 days
The medical report must outline the patient’s medical history, diagnosis, treatment already provided and the reasons why the required care cannot be delivered in Cyprus. Applications that do not meet these criteria may be rejected.
Re-check appointments and strict time limits
Special provisions apply to follow-up appointments for patients who have already received treatment abroad. In such cases, doctors must submit the request no later than 15 days before the scheduled appointment.
From 1 February 2026 onwards, applications submitted outside this timeframe will not be assessed, as they disrupt the management of urgent and life-threatening cases.
Around 25 requests per week
Speaking to Politis, senior HIO officer Monica Kyriacou said that during the four months since the organisation assumed responsibility for overseas transfers, a significant number of applications were accompanied by incomplete tests and documentation.
This, she explained, resulted in repeated requests for additional information from treating doctors, slowing down the overall process.
According to figures she presented, a total of 394 requests have been submitted since the HIO took over the role. Asked whether this number is considered high, Kyriacou said it may be, as it corresponds to roughly 100 requests per month, or around 25 per week.
She added that the elevated volume may partly reflect a backlog from the transition period, when responsibility was transferred from the Ministry of Health to the HIO and non-urgent cases were temporarily not assessed. A clearer picture of actual needs is expected in 2026, once a full operational cycle of the new system has been completed.
Three categories of cases
Kyriacou explained that overseas transfer requests fall into three categories: life-threatening, urgent and routine.
For life-threatening cases, the transfer process begins on average within one hour of submission, with no rejections recorded to date.
- Urgent cases are approved on average within one day and rejected within three days.
- Routine cases take around six days to be approved and seven days to be rejected.
- Life-threatening cases remain relatively few, with only eight such requests submitted so far.
Late submissions for follow-up appointments
Referring to follow-up appointments abroad, Kyriacou noted that the HIO cannot be aware of such appointments unless informed in good time by the patient or treating doctor.
She said there have been instances where applications were submitted just a few days before the scheduled appointment, making effective management difficult.
Appeals and resubmissions
In cases where an application is rejected, the treating doctor may file an appeal, which is reviewed by a different panel of experts than the one that assessed the initial request.
Alternatively, if new medical evidence or test results become available, a new application can be submitted through the standard process without the need for a prior appeal.