Renal physicians criticize unequal access to treatment
Published: Monday, Sep 16th 2024, 17:02
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Doctors complain about inequalities in the financing of kidney treatments in Switzerland. According to a new study, access to new, internationally recognized treatments varies from health insurance fund to health insurance fund. The study was funded by the Swiss Kidney Foundation.
For certain medications and tests that have not yet been approved by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) for health insurance companies, doctors must obtain prior approval from the health insurance companies, as the Kidney Foundation explained in a press release on Monday. These decisions can vary depending on the health insurance company and sometimes even within the same health insurance company.
In the view of the nephrologists, the prior authorization procedure in Switzerland is cumbersome, non-transparent and unfair. It can lead to patients being denied or delayed important treatments and it contributes to the moral burden on doctors, they wrote in the study. The study was published in the specialist journal "Kidney360".
Competence of health insurance physicians questioned
For their study, the researchers led by Valerie Luyckx from the Children's Hospital Zurich surveyed nephrologists in Switzerland. One in three of the around 100 doctors surveyed stated that the system often led to clinically relevant delays in treatment. Four out of five doctors stated that they often felt unable to do the best for their patients as a result of this procedure.
72% of the renal physicians surveyed also stated that it was rarely or never possible to make personal contact with the health insurance companies' medical officers. 69 percent of nephrologists feared that these medical officers did not have the necessary specialist knowledge.
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