Doctors criticize ÖGK: Bureaucracy makes patient care impossible!

Doctors criticize ÖGK: Bureaucracy makes patient care impossible!

Kärnten, Österreich - The replacement of the fax device in the healthcare system causes massive problems. More and more doctors are forced to switch to systems that are incompatible with the existing communication channels. Dr. Markus Opriessnig, President of the Carinthian Medical Association, criticizes the inefficient processes caused by the new technologies. "The doctors now have to use several paid applications to ensure that their patients will receive the needed care promptly," explains Opriessnig. This cumbersome process already leads to considerable delays in patient care, as an example shows: A patient with a chronic wound problem had to wait six days for permission that came back by post despite digital transmission. In that time he received no necessary treatment.

Criticism of the Ögk

OPRIESNIG expresses its lack of understanding that the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) has switched to a system that is not compatible with the systems used in practices and hospitals. This not only tightens bureaucracy, but also costs valuable time that lacks the doctors to take care of their patients. "The switch to a new system requires additional resources and causes justified resentment among patients," continues Opriessnig. These challenges are particularly dramatic in critical moments of medical care.

The safer, digital communication in the health sector is fundamentally necessary, but it must also be integrable and free of charge, suggests opriessnig. A call or walking to the pharmacy should not be a race against time, especially when it comes to health concerns. The resentment grows, and every day leaves traces without functioning digital ways - both for doctors and patients. The ÖGK is under pressure to find solutions that are both practical and efficient to improve medical care and to strengthen trust in the digitization of healthcare. This is essential to promote the acceptance and use of the new systems, as already from gailtal-journal.at and comprehensively was.