New physician president klaus reinhardt advocates patient financial co-payments against excessively frequent doctor visits.
"In the case of multiple and completely unnecessary visits to the doctor, a moderate economic contribution can contribute to a more responsible use of our scarce healthcare resources," reinhardt told the newspapers of the funke media group. "Not every visit to the doctor is necessary and sensible."There are people who have had two or three general practitioners and regularly seek a second or third opinion. "That's not possible," said reinhardt, who was elected president of the federal medical association in may.
The first access to the doctor should always be free. "But you have to take a closer look at who goes to the doctor, when and why," says the physician president. Not every visit to the doctor is necessary or sensible. "The patients must learn to deal responsibly with the resource doctor."Anyone who does not do this is blocking the path to medical care for seriously ill people. Small amounts of money help to change patient behavior. This is shown by experiences from other countries where there is a co-payment.
In principle, the practice fee had worked, but it had been organized incorrectly. The fee had been collected between 2004 and 2012. Ten euros were due for the first visit to the doctor each quarter.
The german patient protection foundation accused reinhardt of "maximum patient uncertainty. The practice fee already did nothing to steer doctors' visits, board member eugen brysch told the deutsche presse agency in berlin. "No one sits down in a waiting room out of sheer boredom."The president of the federal medical association should also first consult with his practice colleagues. "Finally, they had to decide on the spot which patient contact was necessary and which was not."
Reinhardt said what was needed was more health literacy. "Then people knew that if they had diarrhea and needed a simple diet for a few days, they could manage on their own."If the number of doctors is limited, one has to ask whether those who have to sit in the waiting room without any time to spare will act in solidarity. Patients also had to be asked at one point "why they had been to very many doctors for the same illness". Today this is accepted completely without comment.
According to the german medical association, there are about one billion patient visits to the doctor's office. Reinhardt said that everyone should be able to go to any doctor. "Everyone should be able to get the opinion of a second doctor without access barriers."But this must remain within a reasonable range.