Hamburg – 04. April 2024
The economic sentiment of practicing physicians increased in the first quarter of 2024, but is still in the red.
The economic mood of practicing physicians improved by 5.7 points in the first quarter of 2024 and is now at -32.8. This is shown by the latest mood barometer survey by the Health Foundation, in which almost 1,000 doctors took part. Both the assessment of the current economic situation (plus 6.2 points) and the expectations for the next six months (plus 5.3 points) have improved. In addition, the doctors mentioned fewer stressful factors in their everyday work compared to the previous quarter.
The clearest improvement in mood was seen among general practitioners with an increase of 10.2 points, followed by psychological psychotherapists (plus 8.4 points) and specialists (plus 7.1 points). In contrast, the mood among dentists worsened (minus 3.5 points).
An increase is not yet a trend reversal
However, a trend reversal cannot be seen from the current increase: “Since mid-2022, we have observed smaller ups and downs, but no clear trend,” says research director Prof. Dr. Dr. Konrad Obermann presented the results. Overall, the mood of outpatient doctors, dentists and psychological psychotherapists remains at a very low level: “The values of the past two years are lower than anything we have measured before – with the exception of the mood at the beginning of the corona pandemic.”
Prof. Dr. med. Dr. rer. pole. Konrad Obermann, head of research at the Health Foundation.
Mood barometer reflects uncertainty
Obermann sees the cause in deep uncertainty, which is due to both the current political situation and the great need for reform in the healthcare system: “Very few people will dispute that changes to the healthcare system are necessary in order to maintain its performance – but that’s where people come across often met with resistance from established institutions.” An example of this is the hospital reform, in which a stalemate threatens after a politically heated debate: “In such a deadlocked situation, personal initiative, new forms of cooperation and market mechanisms would be alternatives worth considering that could at least be examined,” says Obermann. “And among those in private practice there are certainly committed doctors with innovative ideas who could create sensible care structures at the local level – if only they were allowed to.”
In addition, the Health Foundation also surveyed the economic mood of healthcare professionals. Read the results here.
About the Health Foundation
Knowledge is the best medicine – inspired by this idea, the non-profit and independent Health Foundation has been committed to transparency and orientation in the healthcare system nationwide for over 25 years. The heart of their work is the structural directory of care. On this basis, she has created numerous IT solutions and tools to provide patients with targeted information. You can find out more about the foundation’s work in the video from Christoph Dippe, CEO of the Health Foundation.
Image credits: Image 1: Datawrapper; Image 2: Barbara Hötzel