Healthcare: tax 1 euro per prescription

The Greek Ministry of Health introduces new fees for insured people.

It’s nice to realize how far medicine has come, based on modern discoveries and diagnostic technologies. We can say that now you can literally see “through and through” a person and make an accurate diagnosis at an early stage of the disease. If you went to the doctor and he ordered you to perform a diagnostic called CT (computed tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), then it would be good to know what it is and how one study differs from another. Because in some cases you can decide for yourself what is preferable – this or that.

From the first of April, patients will pay an additional 1 euro for each appointment completed, the same will apply to the preparation of referrals for tests. In addition, patients will pay an additional 3 euros for diagnostics – tomography (CT, MRI, X-ray, etc.). Watch the video.

Don’t notice anything? This is a video from 10 years (!) ago. So we can say that the duty was introduced back then, and then canceled. And now they remembered again. Everything new is well forgotten old, the proverb says. They just don’t tell us where people can get money for all this… How to learn to distinguish between CT and MRI and never confuse one with the other.

We’ll tell you how to distinguish them, remember forever what a CT scan is and what an MRI is, and never confuse one with the other again. Note that there is no goal here to establish “why one is better than the other.” These are two different studies and are used in different cases. Although one can complement the other to make a more accurate diagnosis (see video below).

1. Computed tomography (CT) is a non-invasive diagnostic imaging procedure that uses a combination of X-rays and computer technology to produce horizontal or axial images (slices) of the body. A CT scan can be performed with or without the use of contrast fluid. Contrast can be given orally or intravenously.

CT can provide more detailed information about organs and structures of the human body than standard radiographs. Pros: quick research (from a few seconds to a few minutes). Cons: contraindicated for pregnant women, small children and some other categories of patients.

CT scan very well “represents” the bones of the skeleton, lungs, stomach, and intestines.

2. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) — a method for obtaining tomographic medical images for studying internal organs and tissues using the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance. The method is based on measuring the electromagnetic response of the nucleus of hydrogen atoms, which are present in huge quantities in the human body (in water, etc.).

MRI does not use X-rays or ionizing radiation, which distinguishes it from computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography. Compared to CT, the MRI procedure is noisier and often takes longer (20 minutes or more), and it usually requires the object to be in a narrow tunnel of the tomograph (which is contraindicated for people with diseases such as “claustrophobia”, fear of enclosed spaces ). Additionally, people with certain medical implants or other permanent metal inside the body may not be able to safely undergo an MRI. There are restrictions on the patient’s weight. In a closed tomograph – up to 200 kg. MRI very well “represents” the brain (spinal, head), muscles, adipose tissue, lymph nodes, cartilage, joints.

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