Rate and search doctor navigators online

Online doctor navigator to simplify the search for physicians

03/05/2011

The AOK and the Barmer GEK want to simplify the search for physicians with an online portal on which doctors are assessed by the insured. The so-called online-„doctor Navigator“ the approximately 30 million insured of the two statutory health insurance now available, said today's press release. However, the online physician search servers did not stand up to the public interest sparked by media coverage and were unavailable since the morning.

In the online-„doctor Navigator“ insured persons of the AOK and the Barmer GEK can in the future register with their insured and cash numbers to make an anonymous evaluation to the different doctors. This will then be available to all interested parties as an aid to the doctor search. With the help of the online portals, the search for a doctor will be enriched by an objective qualitative characteristic, so the hope of the initiators. The medical navigator of the AOK and the corresponding online portal of the Barmer GEK are called as „White list“ by the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Selbsthilfe, the Deutsches Arbeitsgemeinschaft Selbsthilfegruppen, the Forum of chronically ill and disabled people in the Paritätischer Gesamtverband, the Sozialverband VdK and the Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentrale.

Registration with insured and cash register number
In the online-„doctor Navigator“ insured persons of at least 15 years of age can register with their insured and cash register numbers to submit assessments of the various doctors. For the time being, only assessments by general practitioners who regularly have contact with their patients are possible. Specialists who are rather irregular in contact with the patients are so far out. For example, laboratory assessors, pathologists or even psychotherapists can not yet make any assessments. Also a review of dentists is in the online-„doctor Navigator“ not possible yet. However, corresponding questionnaires should be put online in a next step. By registering with the insured and cash register number, it is ensured that each insured can submit only one assessment per physician and attempts to deceive through multiple assessments are prevented, explained Jürgen Graalmann, Deputy Chairman of the AOK-Bundesverband.

Rated criteria of the online-„doctor Navigator“
In the online questionnaire for the evaluation of physicians 33 questions include information on the subject areas „physician communication“, „treatment“, „waiting period“ such as „Practice and staff“ queried. The test phase in the pilot regions of Berlin, Hamburg and Thuringia, which has been in progress since May 2010, has shown that these topics are on the one hand particularly important for the patients and on the other hand best to be judged by them, the AOK explained at the presentation of Online-„doctor Navigator“. This would be the best way for patients to assess whether the doctor helped them make decisions and kept their privacy. Ultimately, the patients know very well which doctor they would recommend to their friends - and which not. This knowledge should now, according to the initiators in the online-„doctor Navigator“ bundled to give the insured objectively comprehensible criteria in the search for a doctor.

A successful balancing act between usability and security needs
The health insurance companies have taken into account the physicians' worries about improper criticism or possible defamation by the fact that free textual formulations are not provided for in the assessment and that physicians can respond at any time to the critical information of the insured with a comment. In addition, doctors can upload photos of their practice to ensure adequate presentation. How to succeed „the balancing act between a strong need for security on the one hand and a high degree of user-friendliness on the other hand“, emphasized Rolf-Ulrich Schlenker, Vice Chairman of Barmer GEK. Also offer the „doctor Navigator“ the medical profession a good way to regularly inform about the assessment of their own services and so on „systematic feedback“ The deputy chairman of the board of the AOK Federal Association, Jürgen Graalmann, added. In order to rule out bias in the assessment, the results of the survey in the doctor's search are only visible after ten assessments per doctor and physicians can have their entries blocked so that they no longer appear in the doctor's search.

Doctors advocate the new online portals
After initial rejection, the doctors have in view of the generous concessions with the online-“doctor Navigator“ befriended. „This portal can be an information source“, Roland Stahl, spokesman for the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, told the news agency „DAPD“. Here, in contrast to other offers, often as „electronic pillory“ Serving quality standards of the medical profession, so that in the end not only the insured but also the medical professionals can benefit from the portal. However, according to Roland Stahl „the best recommendation track is still the personal one“. The online doctor alerts, however, form a helpful supplement here.

Disturbed relationship of trust Reason to change the doctor
In particular, for patients who have been disappointed by their doctor or simply want to convoke a second opinion on their personal suffering, is the online-„doctor Navigator“ a promising option. You can easily inform yourself from home about the quality of the available physicians. However, only the physicians are listed here with Kassenärztlicher approval. For the insured by law, however, this should not be a restriction, since anyway only the treatment at the doctor is taken over by their insurance. Expensive specialists without Kassenärztliche approval stay in the online-„doctor Navigator“ left out. Rainer Sbrzesny from the Independent Patient Counseling Germany (UPD) in Berlin recommends insured persons to change their doctor first of all, „when the relationship of trust no longer exists“. Then offer the online-„doctor Navigator“ a good basis for paying close attention to the factors that caused the breach of trust with the previous doctor in the search for a doctor and to exclude them from the outset. (Fp)

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