To overcome the “emergency state” due to the shortage of family doctors, Asugi will set up an Experimental Primary Care Clinic (ASAP) for citizens who are left without a general practitioner (due to retirement or cessation) and do not have the possibility to choose a new one given the current shortage. For this reason, the meeting took place yesterday between the ASUGI Strategic Management, the Acting Director of the Department of Territorial Assistance Giacomo Benedetti, the Director of Conventional Medicine Giovanni Maria Farina and the representatives of the trade union organizations of the General Practitioners of SMI, SNAMI, FIMMG Trieste and FIMMG Gorizia. The agreement, reached late in the evening, includes the following points.
The Service will be available between 08.00 and 20.00, Monday to Friday, and from 8.00 to 10.00 on Saturdays. The service activity parameter is indicatively equivalent to 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday for 1500/1800 patients, to be distributed between service opening activities and back office activities. As an experimental project, it will be evaluated quarterly. Where possible, it will be organized at the headquarters assigned to host the operational base of the Continuity of Care Service. The service will be available in the territorial area of registration of the terminated doctor, until a new general practitioner is assigned.
The economic valorisation of general practitioners who accept the increase in the ceiling for the number of patients assisted was also discussed. For professionals who will accept an increase over 1500 patients and within 1800, an additional annual incentive fee of 13.46 euros is also recognized for all choices over 1500 patients. This quota will be recognized from January 2023 also for the ceiling increases carried out in December 2022.
Comments the provincial manager of Snami Matteo Picerna: “Snami’s proposals have been accepted by the company, proposals which obviously do not solve the serious shortage of doctors caused by 20 years of definancing of the health system but which as an emergency measure go to respond to the need to take care of the population”.
“The experimental Sisap primary care service has also been set up – explains Picerna -, dedicated to all citizens, based on the experience of the USCA, active in case the family doctor is not immediately available on 800614302, not only for covid-related issues. A continuous training program for Doctors of Continuity of Care has also been accepted by the company to further improve the quality of services”.