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Rabat – Morocco’s National Fund for Social Welfare Organizations (CNOPS) has announced that it will stop accepting pre-filled medical test forms for insurance reimbursement starting December 1.
The decision, shared in a letter to the National Council of the Order of Doctors, comes after the fund said that these forms, which make it easy for doctors to quickly prescribe multiple laboratory tests, often lead to unnecessary and costly medical exams.
According to CNOPS, the use of such ready-made forms has resulted in compensation claims for tests that are not medically justified, increasing the overall cost of healthcare.
What’s the problem with pre-filled forms?
Many doctors say these forms, which list a set of common tests that can be checked off quickly, help save time but also open the door to misuse.
Mourabit Mossadeq, a general practitioner, explained to SNRT News that these forms have pros and cons. They make a doctor’s work faster and easier, but they also allow patients to add or choose tests on their own, which takes away the scientific basis of medical practice.
He added that insurance companies are not required to reimburse tests that were not prescribed by a doctor, as they might not be medically necessary.
For his part, Dr. Tayeb Hamdi, a physician and researcher in health systems and policies, told SNRT News that CNOPS’ decision is justified. “It was found that some patients add extra tests to these forms on their own. This is a form of fraud that harms both the insurance fund and the healthcare system,” he said.
He noted that pre-filled forms are often distributed for free to doctors, but many prefer not to use them because they write specific test requests that fit each patient’s condition. “A lab test form is a prescription in itself,” Hamdi emphasized.
Hamdi warned that when patients add tests without consulting a doctor, it can lead to serious consequences: “It’s not only falsifying a medical prescription, it can also lead to wrong diagnoses.”
He stressed that consulting a doctor is a key step in any treatment process. “Only the doctor can determine which tests are needed and when they should be done,” he said. Random tests, he warned, can waste both money and health, as they might falsely reassure patients or cause unnecessary fear.
