Austrian health checks set for revamp:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The Austrian ministry of health, together with the Hauptverband - which co-ordinates the 28 health, accident and pension insurance funds - and the Austrian doctors chamber (OAK), are preparing to negotiate the new framework for health checks. But Walter Dorner, president of the Vienna doctors chamber (AKW), is warning that the forthcoming decisions may result in quality reductions, because they focus too heavily on evidence-based medicine. This would be particularly detrimental to Vienna, which has a different illness pattern and patient structure to other Austrian states, he said. Among other diagnostic procedures, the health check-up currently includes examinations of the heart, head, throat, blood, kidneys, liver, lungs, spine, prostate and breasts.