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Modernization of independent patient consultation
Counseling consumers and patients on health issues could be faster and easier in the future. According to the GKV Spitzenverband, Independent Patient Counseling Germany (UPD) will be gradually expanded from the beginning of next year. The UPD's advisers will receive a nationwide free number on weekdays until 22:00 and on Saturdays from 8:00 to 18:00 to be reached. Advice seekers can find out about common treatment methods for certain diseases.
The consultation also includes medical bills and health insurance benefits as well as other social questions. Should concerns not be clarified by phone, there is also the opportunity to be personally advised at 30 locations in Germany, for example, in community colleges or citizen's offices. The work is secured by comprehensive quality management. The highest principle of the 120 consultants and physicians is thereby the neutrality and independence of the advice, so the statement of the GKV-Spitzenverbandes.
Independent patient counseling on the way to modernization? (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com) New assignment of the UPD goes to Sanvartis
Gernot Kiefer, head of the GKV-Spitzenverband, emphasized that different conceptual offers were received in the process of re-awarding the UPD. This has led to a real competition for the best solutions. "We are convinced that with the offer of Sanvartis GmbH we have selected the best and most innovative offer in the interest of patients and consumers." It is planned to expand the consultation online, by telephone or in person on site and to make it more flexible. Especially in structurally weak, rural areas, there should be an on-site advice for advice seekers in counseling mobile. In the case of reduced mobility, there should also be a home-based advice offered by UPD, explained Kiefer.
UPD Consulting improved and modernized
State Secretary Karl-Josef Laumann, patient representative of the German Federal Government (CDU), stated: "In the future, an auditor will monitor adherence to quality standards and independence. In addition, the Advisory Council receives rights of instruction vis-à-vis the new UPD. And for the first time, with the exception of a few specialists, the consultants will be hired directly by the newly formed UPD company and will work exclusively for them. Influences of third parties on the advice should thus be excluded. Furthermore, the advice will be improved and modernized. "Well-tried, of course, preserved. In addition, there are a number of improvements - towards more quality, regionality and proximity to the citizens. I'm sure that patient counseling in Germany is making a quantum leap. Citizens will benefit, "Laumann added. For example, in the absence of language skills, Russian-speaking and Turkish-speaking counselors will in future be provided with the entire health-related or social-legal knowledge of the counselors via interpreters.
Increase the number of patient contacts
Thorben Krumwiede, designated managing director of the UPD, summed up: "The aim is to almost triple the number of consultations to more than 220,000 annual contacts." In addition, the aim was above all to strengthen the quality of advice. He added that doctors, lawyers, medical assistants and other specialists from more than 15 different disciplines can be connected by phone or in person by video call. Krumwiede explained in the press release of the GKV-Spitzenverband: "We ensure the quality and up-to-dateness of all information, which are used in the consultation, by professional sources of information and databases and supply the entire expert knowledge to each consultation place. Independent, neutral and competent to advise is and remains the heart of Independent Patient Counseling. "State Secretary Laumann added that both the GKV-Spitzenverband and the patient adviser are convinced that they need to promote the" UPD brand "as an independent, independent and quality-oriented offer. The UPD, which is funded by the contribution payers of the statutory health insurance, must be more accessible and known to a large public.
New allocation of UPD controversial
The awarding of patient counseling to Sanvartis GmbH had resulted in two members of the UPD Advisory Board (professors Marie-Luise Dierks (MHH) and Rolf Rosenbrock, chairman of the Joint General Assembly) having already completed their cooperation. The GKV-Spitzenverband had on Friday the 18th of September officially granted Sanvartis the contract. The patient representative Karl-Josef Laumann approved the election. According to the Ärztezeitung, members of the Advisory Council had already expressed serious concerns during the award procedure against the proceedings themselves and against Sanvartis. Laumann explained that he had noted the resignation of the advisory board members, but he did not want to comment further. The decision against the current supporters of the UPD was not easy for him, said Laumann and met with opposition from the Left and the Greens. The re-awarding of the UPD funding was necessary because the legal requirements only allow a temporary allocation of these funds and expire the current funding phase at the end of this year. Legislators increased UPD funding from € 5.2 million to € 9 million a year, extending the term from five to seven years. Above all, this should provide better accessibility by telephone. The Duisburg company Sanvartis will establish an independent, non-profit GmbH. This is to continue the offer under the previous brand name "Independent Patient Advice Germany" (UPD) and make known. The decision to award Sanvartis was made by mutual agreement between the GKV-Spitzenverband. (As)