Doctors demand courageous reforms for better patient care in Austria!

Doctors demand courageous reforms for better patient care in Austria!

Wien, Österreich - On July 3, 2025, Edgar Wutscher, the Vice President of the Austrian Medical Association, urged the need to strengthen medical care in Austria. In a press conference, he made it clear that the discussions about the current supply situation were insufficient and that a strong commitment to the resident area is required. Insured persons who pay social security contributions should not be fed with emergency solutions, said Wutscher. Rather, qualitative and comprehensive patient care is of central importance.

Wutscher also called for a sustainable upgrading of conversation medicine and nutritional advice, while at the same time pointing out the potential of the resident doctors in prevention. Another important point he appealed was the idea of a lifelong health pass, especially for the children's and youth area. Telemedical support could also be further promoted by a sensible structuring on the part of politics.

progress in healthcare

In the context of the discussion, it became clear that progress has already been made in the resident area. Claudia Neumayer stickler and Peter McDonald reported a significant expansion of the primary care units (PVEs) in a press conference on April 23, 2025. 2024, a strong increase in the PVEs and an increase in doctors in the health insurance area, which is the first success in the fight against the lack of doctors.

Already in 2023, the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) counted 100 primary care units across Austria. These PVes offer comprehensive medical care under one roof, with the teams of general practitioners, pediatricians, nursing staff and other health professions. The multidisciplinary approach of these facilities includes treatment, prevention, aftercare and psychosocial aspects, which better focuses on the needs of patients.

strategic goals and expansion measures

With regard to the ambitions to improve medical care, specific strategic goals were set. These include the relief of the hospital area, the improvement of service quality through longer opening times and the creation of new supply offers to increase the attractiveness for doctors. The expansion of the PVEs helps to reduce waiting times and to ensure health care close to home.

• Expansion of the primary care units: 41 new PVes founded.
• Expansion of the offers for children and adolescents: 8 new children's PVes and additional individual order.
• ambulatories: New offers in child supply and other disciplines.
• Functional therapies: new positions for physiotherapy and occupational therapy set up.

The ÖGK plans to continue the expansion of the primary supply units across Germany and has already received positive feedback from patients who appreciate the concept of the PVEs. The focus is clearly on modern, needs -oriented health care for all people in Austria.

Finally, Wutscher underlined the importance of representing the medical associations in the Federal and State goal control commission. The optimization of the supply structures is considered a crucial step to meet the challenges of the medical sector in Austria. Especially in rural areas, the planned measures, such as the expansion of medical medicinal pharmacies, could be a solution to the young problems in the medical area, which could bring up to 400 new health insurance doctors.

The current developments show that the path to a future -proof health care in Austria has been initiated, but numerous challenges still have to be managed in order to adequately look after all patients.