Survey in medical practices: workload, vaccination rate and compulsory vaccination in focus
16.02.2022 14:47
According to a current quick survey among practicing doctors, 71 percent of participating general practices and specialist practices in Germany are recording an increased workload due to the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron. For general practitioners it is 84 percent and for specialists it is a good half. The reasons given for this are, in particular, a greater need for communication due to the COVID-19 protective measures, an increased number of corona tests and the absence of practice staff due to illness.
With their use of vaccinations in the practices themselves, general practitioners and specialists fulfill an important role model function for society: 94 percent have current proof of immunity (95 percent in general practitioners and 93 percent in specialists). For psychotherapists the rate is 81 percent. Non-medical practice employees also have proof of immunity at an above-average rate, with almost 93 percent in general practitioners and 90 percent in specialist practices. There are regional differences in proof of immunity. Respondents reported the lowest rates in Saxony and Thuringia and the highest in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Despite the above-average frequency of proof of immunity, practices expect noticeable restrictions on practice operations as a result of facility-related vaccination requirements. Almost a third of those surveyed stated that disruptions to everyday practice or even restrictions on care for patients were to be expected. In the general medical sector, 17 percent expect severe restrictions, in the specialist medical sector it is 25 percent and in the psychotherapeutic sector 28 percent.
57 percent of respondents continue to offer special COVID-19 vaccination consultations. This proportion has decreased. 88 percent report declining demand from patients and 28 percent report a lack of vaccine availability as the reasons for reduced vaccination consultations. Cooperation with health authorities is still viewed as poor. The average school grade was four. Around 40 percent of participants gave a five or six.
These are the central results of a quick survey on the consequences of the corona vaccination campaign in doctors' practices, which the Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance (Zi) published in mid-February. Resident doctors were surveyed about the current workload at the peak of the Omicron wave, the vaccination rate in practices as well as additional vaccination offers and the effects of a specific vaccination requirement. After adjusting the data, around 11,200 doctors and psychotherapists responded to the survey, which ran from February 8th to 13th, 2022. The answers concern more than 26,700 doctors and psychotherapists as well as more than 68,000 practice employees. The results of the survey are not representative. However, the participation rate is very high and the results are consistent in important respects.
“The already tense situation in medical and psychotherapy practices is becoming even more alarming due to the Omicron wave. The workload in the practices has been high for months and operations are on edge. In addition to the enormously high demands since the Delta variant and the 2021 vaccination campaign, the practices now have to deal with additional absences from work by practice staff and more difficult communication with patients and health authorities," said Zi CEO Dr. Dominik von Stillfried.
Many of those surveyed confirmed in free text answers that there was a lack of appreciation for politics, especially in the form of a financial bonus for employees, von Stillfried continued: “Our quick survey also shows that even in practices there is not complete proof of immunity for all employees is to calculate. Rigorous implementation of the facility-specific vaccination requirement by March 15, 2022 will lead to significant restrictions in practice processes and ultimately also in the medical and psychotherapeutic care of patents and patients. The facility-related vaccination requirement is being discussed very controversially by practicing doctors and psychotherapists due to fears of staff and supply bottlenecks. Many participants currently rate the benefits of this project as less than the burden it poses. In this respect, the results are also a wake-up call to those responsible for politics to use all means possible to keep the outpatient protective barrier for the healthcare system stable and safe and to keep burdens whose benefits are questionable as low as possible.”