Study casts doubt on the federal government’s health plan

criticism

Family doctor model makes care more expensive

The family doctor should be the mandatory first point of contact in the event of health problems. This is what the federal government is planning. But there are no advantages for patients, warns a new study.

However, a new study raises doubts about whether these goals can be achieved. It was presented by Hamburg health economist Jonas Schreyögg on behalf of the Techniker Krankenkasse. To this end, the director of the Hamburg Center for Health Economics examined what experiences the Techniker Krankenkasse had with so-called family doctor-centered care (HzV).

However, Schreyögg now judges that the HzV is not suitable as a model for the planned primary doctor model: “The study shows that the HzV only has a limited control effect. Among other things, it leads to more contact with specialists and the number of hospital stays has not decreased as a result of HzV participation.” Instead of reducing costs, the HzV led to additional expenditure of 160 million euros.

This is mainly because family doctors receive extra compensation for participating in the HzV. Of the average additional costs of 122 euros per patient, 80.56 euros are attributable to the family doctor. However, this is offset by only small savings in specialist fees.

Schreyögg also did not see any improvements in the patients’ health. The close care provided by the family doctor does not lead to hospital stays being avoided. There was also no significant improvement in the quality of medication prescriptions compared to standard care.

Those insured under the family doctor model were also more likely to be on sick leave. On average over the year, HzV participants received sick pay four days longer than those insured under standard care.

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As a result, Schreyögg advocates abolishing the HzV. “In the future, we should allow all family doctors in Germany to benefit from the additional expenses for the HzV fees and not just the 20 percent who take part in a HzV contract in addition to being licensed as a contract doctor.”