Row over GP pay continues as new system implemented

Changes in the way GPs are paid prompted a new row between personal doctors and the health insurance organisation on Wednesday as the new form of payment was implemented.

Abuses are one of the major issues plaguing the national health scheme (Gesy), operator Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) said earlier this week as it announced a special action plan was created in March to address the issue.

One of the abuses is the large number of unsubstantiated referrals issued by the 670 personal doctors and paediatricians to other Gesy providers, the organisation said.

To curb this phenomenon, 20 per cent of the renumeration for personal doctors will now be calculated on the basis of quality criteria and indicators. This concerns the referrals issued by GPs for specialised doctors, tests such as XRays and MRIs as well as laboratory exams. The remaining 80 per cent will be based on the number of patients registered.

The HIO said it will also intensify quality control of the referrals issued by GPs as well as the procedure for taking action against them in case they fail to comply with the organisation’s instructions.

The change was already included in the national health scheme provisions, said the former head of the technical committee that drew up the plans for Gesy and current head of family doctors association Andreas Polynikis.

It comes amid complaints of abuse of the system with some doctors reportedly signing up a large number of patients without providing the follow through care and others too prone to issue referrals to specialists and order scores of tests that may not be needed.

Although the referrals issued by 90 per cent of personal doctors are below the average, according to Polynikis, all of them are against the new form of payment, he said. “We receive phone calls and complaints daily.”

Instead, GPs have requested for half of that percentage to be covered by the organisation as a form of incentive to doctors against issuing unnecessary referrals. HIO has denied their request, but Polynikis said “we will claim it”.

He added that health professionals also want to reduce the average of referrals issued, just not with “neoliberal bullying”.

“Because perhaps in this way we might lose some cases,” he said, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis in fatal diseases.

Furthermore, patients must also be informed to not demand unnecessary referrals from their GPs, the doctor said.