Advances in medical technology, demographic developments and changes in society's understanding of health and illness are altering the requirements in modern family medicine. In parallel, the privately financed secondary health care market is growing. The practice of family medicine is shaped by the regulatory environment of the Code of Social Law (economical, reasonable, necessary, practicable) but now increasingly by the economic orientation of the secondary health care market and by legal questions as well. To capture the implications of these developments, German family practitioners were surveyed about the resultant attitudes and consequences. A total of 500 family doctors took part in an online survey reg... More
Advances in medical technology, demographic developments and changes in society's understanding of health and illness are altering the requirements in modern family medicine. In parallel, the privately financed secondary health care market is growing. The practice of family medicine is shaped by the regulatory environment of the Code of Social Law (economical, reasonable, necessary, practicable) but now increasingly by the economic orientation of the secondary health care market and by legal questions as well. To capture the implications of these developments, German family practitioners were surveyed about the resultant attitudes and consequences. A total of 500 family doctors took part in an online survey regarding the medical practice. The questionnaire was developed and pre-tested on the basis of semi-structured interviews. It contained items related to the implications of the secondary health care market as well as questions about commercial and legal consequences. Except for the sex of participants, the sample was representative of the overall distribution of family practitioners in Germany. Every second doctor practicing family medicine dislikes private payment for health care services; 75% perceived negatively the influence of non-medical actors in the public health sector on medical measures. Only 8% of the participants agreed with the statement that integration of innovative care concepts through digitalization improved patient care while 37% rejected it; 41% of those surveyed advocated stronger legal monitoring due to the increasingly negative influence of privatization. However, approximately two-thirds of the participants felt that current legislation, including the passage of the Anti-Corruption Law of 2016, was inadequate. The confidence of family doctors in legal prosecution for medical criminal acts was minimal. The self-image of family medicine will change through stronger integration among the commercial and legal aspects, which will be necessary for modern family medicine. A critical discussion regarding the possible effects of a competitive orientation must closely accompany any innovative care. In addition to the risk of the economization of practices, combining the classical health care system with the secondary health care market also offers opportunities to improve the quality of medical care.
