Chamber of Physicians for New Rules for In-House Pharmacies

The ability to operate in-house pharmacies promotes the occupation of health insurance doctor positions in rural areas. According to Silvester Hutgrabner, head of the in-house pharmacies department of the Medical Association, this is a relevant but not solely decisive factor. Currently, the requirements for this are too high. The Pharmacy Act states that within a radius of four kilometers from a public pharmacy, a medical in-house pharmacy cannot be approved; between four and six kilometers, this is only possible as a successor practice.

Fewer and Fewer In-House Pharmacies

Due to legal changes and supreme court jurisprudence, the number of in-house pharmacies has decreased from 1,100 to 800 since the late 1990s, while the number of public pharmacies has increased from 1,000 to around 1,450, lamented Hutgrabner. Meanwhile, there have been initial cases where communities with two health insurance positions cannot find doctors but have a public pharmacy. Besides the kilometer regulation, there are other problems, said the chairwoman of the association of doctors with in-house pharmacies, Carmen Berti-Zambanini. For example, primary care facilities are not allowed to operate medical in-house pharmacies at all. Additionally, a doctor who temporarily covers for a colleague with an in-house pharmacy is not allowed to dispense medications from that in-house pharmacy during that time.

Medical Association: "Yes, We Can Talk About Vaccinations"

Hutgrabner's appeal to politics: "We finally want to start a conversation to achieve a revision of the Pharmacy Act that also considers general practitioners. Bring us together, even within the framework of health insurance negotiations, and let's sit down with the pharmacists." In doing so, one could also talk about vaccinations in pharmacies - "being categorically against it doesn't help." If the pharmacies meet all legal and hygienic requirements, he would be the last to reject it. Similarly, Chamber Vice President Edgar Wutscher, also the federal chairman of the private practice doctors: The majority of the chamber believes: "Yes, we can talk about vaccinations." However, they demand that in return, there should also be discussions about the right to dispense (i.e., the right to also dispense medications). On Thursday, there was also a meeting of the chamber with the ÖGK, where it was agreed to approach a unified overall contract including a service catalog and remuneration. Three working groups have been set up for this with a time horizon of three-quarters of a year.

Medical Association Supports SFU Staff

Meanwhile, the Vienna Medical Association declared solidarity on Friday in the ongoing salary negotiations with the staff of the Sigmund Freud Private University (SFU). The works council wants to apply pressure through a warning strike for at least partial inflation compensation and three company agreements. Two years with zero percent inflation compensation is not a very attractive negotiation offer, said Handan Özbas, chairwoman of the SFU works council, in a joint statement. An agreement on a salary structure with fair inflation compensation, flexible working time regulation, and compensation for the additional services of the academic staff is a prerequisite for bringing the SFU back into calmer waters, emphasized Chamber Vice President Eduardo Maldonado-González. The SFU has repeatedly been in the headlines in recent years after the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria) withdrew accreditation for the medical master's program in 2022 due to serious quality deficiencies. Since the end of 2024, the program has met the requirements again.

(APA/Red)

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