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Mainz The 128th German Medical Association has spoken out in favor of using the existing supply capacities in Germany in a more targeted manner than before.

The resolution proposed by the board of the Federal Medical Association (BK), which was approved with an overwhelming majority, states that health care in Germany is facing immense challenges in view of the growing need for care in a society of long lives, an increasing shortage of skilled workers and, at the same time, increasing care options due to medical progress. Doctors and other healthcare professionals are already working at their limits and often beyond.

The German healthcare system, like few others, is characterized by barely controlled access and unstructured utilization. The decision emphasizes that this is also to the detriment of patients because under these conditions it is becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee coordinated and safe care.

In order to use existing resources more efficiently, patients should choose a doctor’s office for primary medical care. This contact point should take over primary medical care for all health concerns as well as the coordination of necessary further treatment with specialists and in other care areas.

In this context, the members of the Medical Association advocated further expanding family doctor-centered care. However, direct access to specialist care should be maintained, for example in gynecological and ophthalmological care. For patients with a particularly prominent chronic illness that requires intensive and continuous specialist care, treatment coordination should be carried out by the treating specialist.

The decision emphasizes that services provided in primary medical care must be debudgeted both in the general practitioner and subsequently in referral to the specialist area.

Control access to emergency care

The resolution also calls for control of access to emergency care using a validated, standardized initial medical assessment. The nationwide establishment of common or networked control centers for medical on-call services (116117) and emergency services (112) is crucial for this.

Digital structures that enable the exchange of data and information between all those involved in emergency care, a display of available care capacities in real time and direct online appointments are also essential.

A fundamental prerequisite for successful access control is the promotion of people’s health literacy as well as their knowledge of the structures of the healthcare system and their appropriate use. This must begin in childhood and adolescence by implementing a school subject of health in primary and secondary schools, it says in the decision.

In order to ensure care that includes not only medical expertise but also other medical and, in some cases, social professional groups, interprofessional care must be structurally supported and adequately financed.

The 128th German Doctors’ Day called on those politically responsible at the federal and state levels to implement and design these measures now in close consultation with doctors and other professional groups in the healthcare system. © aha/aerzteblatt.de