WARKE CUSTOPES ARE FROM FORMPLE: Efficiency increase in healthcare!

WARKE CUSTOPES ARE FROM FORMPLE: Efficiency increase in healthcare!

Leipzig, Deutschland - Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken (CDU) presented a comprehensive reform plan for the German health system at the 129th Medical Day in Leipzig. The focus is on the introduction of a family doctor principle that aims to increase the efficiency of medical care. Warken announced that general practitioners will in future take over the mediation of appointments with specialists. This is intended to help avoid double examinations and to significantly shorten the waiting times for specialist visits. Deutschlandfunk reports that these measures should serve both the targeted use of household funds and a more efficient design of the health system.

Klaus Reinhardt, the President of the Federal Medical Association, signaled support for the planned reforms in his speech, but also expressed concerns about the challenges that the current health system brings. The new approach is also to discuss how artificial intelligence can be used in medical care, which represents another facet of the negotiations during the doctor's day. The event lasts until Friday, whereby the doctors deal intensively with the various aspects of the reform.

household -produced care: an overview

As part of the family doctor's principle, statutory health insurance companies are obliged to offer a household -produced supply. Patients must undertake to see only a chosen family doctor and in most cases consult them before they can go to specialists. Exceptions apply, for example, to ophthalmologists, gynecologists and pediatricians who can be visited directly. The Federal Ministry of Health explains that health insurance companies have to offer special family doctor tariffs and that discounts such as premium payments or additional payments are possible for patients who can first be treated by their family doctor.

The reform pursues the goal of improving the organization of medical care without creating additional burdens for the insured. However, this reasoning is questioned by the German Patient Protection Foundation. The foundation expresses concerns about possible overloads of the family practices and the availability of contract doctors. According to a survey, two thirds of the population are critical of the new concept. Tagesschau reports that there are similarities to the earlier practice fee, which was collected from 2004 to 2012.

The discussion about the design of the family principle will be the focus of the German Medical Day in Leipzig, where both supporters and skeptics will present their positions. However, the concrete implementation of the new system remains unclear and requires careful consideration of the various interests in the healthcare system.