Sip Germany

Neue EBM-Ziffern zur Versorgung Sterbender – kommt es zum Streit um die Palliativpatienten?

In his open letter Ulrich Weigeldt, President of the German Association for General Practitioners (Deutscher Hausärzteverband), criticizes recent decisions of the Evaluation Committee (Bewertungsausschuss) which have been integrated into the EBM. These new regulations concern GPs and their responsibilities in palliative care. In future, a considerable number of medical services will only be remunerated if approved by the ‚Kassenärztliche Vereinigung‘. The approval will be given if the GP participates in additional trainings and qualifications. But how should a GP take part in a 14 days training in a center for palliative care if he has to run the practice at the same time? And how should he take care of his patients when he is obliged to participate in seminars? Representatives of the German Association for GPs had pointed out these contradictions before the new regulations have been put into practice. However, nobody seems to have listened.

Weigeldt is convinced that the new regulations have mainly got one aim which is to exclude the GP from palliative care. According to Weigeldt, the patient is the one who has to bear the consequences. The doctor he might know for a lifetime is not allowed to accompany him during his last months or years. Instead, he will have to see a number of different specialists.

Weigeldt asks the addressees of his letter to reconsider the decisions. In his opinion, it does not make sense to break with established structures that proved to be effective and, furthermore, to ignore a GPs expertise completely. The Association for GPs would certainly be glad to support a professional exchange of information and ideas with its expertise.

Read the original articles here and here.