To stop the circulation of Covid-19 in France, the State is implementing a new screening and monitoring strategy for patients with Covid-19. Under this new system, general practitioners will have to report their coronavirus patients to Health Insurance. The State also asks them to look for contact cases, people who have been in prolonged contact with the patient during the last two days. Health Insurance will take over from the health brigades, administrative teams responsible for contacting contact cases and isolating them to prevent the spread of the virus.
“It’s not our job to investigate, estimates doctor François Serain, president of the council of the Order of the doctors drômois. It is police work or administrative work that Social Security can do very well, but not city doctors. They are already overwhelmed with work. We have other cats to whip for this exit from containment. “
A real act of public health
Some generalists still believe that this task falls within their fields of competence. “It is fully within our role to be commissioned by the State, by Social Security to ensure this role of public health, considers Pierre Pieniek, doctor at Romans.We are already doing it for some as a sentinel doctor to monitor seven or eight diseases including the seasonal flu. Others do it for reportable diseases like tuberculosis or HIV. What we are offered is a real act of public health to avoid a second wave of contamination. “
The doctor still recognizes a time problem. How to find contact cases between consultations without overloading the days. “We will have to see what is compulsory to declare and what we are offered to declare“, tempers Pierre Pieniek.
Breach of medical confidentiality
The other fear of doctors, the violation of medical confidentiality between the practitioner and his patient. “Give all this personal data to pure administrative staff who have no culture of medical confidentiality, that does not reassure us, assures François Serain. Even if we are told that these people will be trained for a few hours on the subject. “
The Parliament authorized this Saturday afternoon the establishment of files to reference sick patients and contact cases. But the doctors remain vigilant and will follow the recommendations of the national council of the order of doctors.
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