Schwerin (dpa/mv) - According to the General Practitioners Association of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, new guidelines from the Federal Ministry of Health are putting a strain on the budgets of practices and increasing waiting times for doctor's appointments. Board member Tilo Schneider commented on Tuesday in a statement critical of the cuts in services for specialists announced by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). With a lot of effort, they had expanded their care offerings in order to be able to make appointments more quickly. The additional consultation hours are now in danger of being lost because they are not being adequately paid for. “This has an impact on all providers. The emergency rooms in the hospitals will fill up.
The Rostock association representative also criticized the mandatory exchange of computer technology for the transmission of health data to the health insurance companies. This change is completely unnecessary and is only due to the expiry of safety certificates after five years. The certificates could also have been extended, said Schneider. The exchange would incur immense costs for the practices and tons of electronic waste would be unnecessarily produced. "We doctors are particularly annoyed by the time we invest in getting the complicated technology up and running. Because the benefits are still limited to minimal applications," Schneider continues.
He also referred to rising operating and personnel costs. "Inflation and the energy crisis are not affecting us either. We have not yet joined the nationwide protests in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania out of concern for our patients," said the deputy head of the General Practitioners' Association in MV, which organizes around 1,000 doctors are. The 29th House Doctors' Day is planned for Rostock at the end of November.
