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Around 300,000 electronic cardholders leave empty-handed because they have left the electronic medical record. That is a disregard for the rights of patients.
Delivery of free corona self-tests in pharmacies will begin Monday. At the moment, kits for 600,000 people are available. Policyholders receive five self-tests per week. This does not apply to citizens who have withdrawn from ELGA in its entirety or from the e-Medication service, as well as to people who do not have health insurance. The medical association criticized these exclusion criteria on Saturday.
Around 300,000 of the 8.8 million electronic cardholders leave empty-handed because they left the electronic health record (ELGA). The president of the Medical Association, Thomas Szekeres, speaks of a “two-class society and disregard for the rights of patients” and “very much misses” a “protest by patient advocates.”
They fought back immediately. “As patient advocates, we are by no means repressing ourselves, but last Thursday we sent an open letter to Health Minister Anschober with strong criticism,” said Lower Austrian patient lawyer Gerald Bachinger, in his role as everyone’s spokesperson. patient advocates and the ELGA ombudsman in the federal states. Regarding the distribution of free antigen tests in pharmacies, Patient Advocates had called for the planned measures to be reconsidered and for ELGA Patient Advocates and Ombudsmen to be involved.
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Szekeres, in turn, said on Saturday that he could not understand that patients who had exercised their “right” to opt out of ELGA would now be punished for precisely this and consequently disadvantaged. The exclusion of the uninsured is also incomprehensible to him, he said: “Large-scale antigen testing is an effective measure to fight the pandemic. Lockdowns cost us billions, and that prevents you from issuing free antigen tests? ?
He was “once again unhappy” with the work of state government appointed patient advocates. They spoke at the time when they thought they had identified individual misconduct, “but when it comes to global patient rights, such as the distribution of free Covid-19 self-tests to all citizens, there is an elegant silence on concern. with the authorities not offensive in Austria, “criticized Szekeres.
“Digitized systems are our partners”
Peter Lehner, the current president of the Conference of Social Security Institutions, did not accept it. In a press release, Lehner did not show understanding for the criticisms of the dispensing strategy through ELGA and electronic medication: “Digitized systems are our partners in the fight against the pandemic. We have to use new technologies.” With ELGA and the electronic card, you have “forward-thinking, flexible and robust systems that can be used in a variety of ways.”
Those who opted out of ELGA and e-medication, and thus excluded themselves from the offer to pick up self-tests at the pharmacy, could register again at any time, Lehner said: “Modern, digitized systems work smoothly. effective, transparent and complete, if they are used by as many people as possible. ” And furthermore: “ELGA and E-Card guarantee that data is safe and access is protected and can be traced at all times.”
The Austrian Pensioners Association (PVÖ) warned of chaos in front of pharmacies. “Once again, it only has good intentions instead of doing it well. The government promises a lot, as it does with masks, tests and vaccines, but the practicality of implementation is lacking,” criticized PVÖ general secretary Andreas Wohlmuth. He called for “being wiser than the government” and not going to pharmacies in droves on Monday morning. “The tests will continue to be delivered to pharmacies over the next week, you don’t have to expose yourself to unnecessary stress and significant risk of tail infection on the first day,” Wohlmuth recommended.
The president of the Association for the Elderly, Ingrid Korosec, also protested against the exclusion of around 300,000 people from the free self-assessment kits at pharmacies that had unsubscribed from ELGA. “This is a purely technical problem and it should not be at the expense of the people,” he said in a broadcast. At the time, it was ensured that there would be no downside to those affected by leaving ELGA, Korosec said: “Each e-card owner was promised five free antigen tests per week. I hope these promises are kept.”
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