Advocacy of private clinics for a greater role in the health system

Written by Sandeep Nehra

Private clinics have once again late on Wednesday for not being “heard” by the government, despite the “major role” they say playing supporting figures in the French health system.

To mark the release of his second sector report covering the year 2009, inventory of the private for-profit hospital, the Federation of Private Hospitals (FHP) has extolled its merits, not recognized by it by the government.

The private sector means “shake up conventional wisdom” by showing that such was not confined to wealthy people as hosts 25% of patients within the CMU (universal health coverage).

An advertising campaign is also underway, under the slogan “Clinics in private hospitals, we can all go.” Some eight million people are welcomed each year in 1,143 private schools that employ 146,000 workers and 41,500 practitioners.

Recognizing that many patients are afraid to go to clinic for fear of excess fees, the FHP highlights an investigation by the magazine 60 million consumers that these overruns were applied in 18 to 52% of cases by specialty.

The private sector also argues that it does not completely leave the burden on public hospital emergency room because he received two million patients in its 134 emergency services, 14% more than last year.

And he wants to do more but is prevented, “he assures. The FHP-MCO branch Medicine-Surgery-Obstetrics of the FHP has denounced a few days ago the “inaction” in this field.

“It is anomalous that the applications for permission to open our facilities for emergency services remain without answer, so that patients are paying the daily saturated public emergency services”, said Lamine Gharbi, president of the federation (700 establishments).

Highlighting his “plateaus advanced techniques” and the management of serious diseases, the private sector will not be reduced to “a crutch of the public hospital.”

“We are not heard,” complains the president of the FHP, Jean-Loup Durousset, who wants the private sector to contribute more to public service missions such as continuity of care or foster care doctors and nurses in training, public sector monopoly.

But to reach the level of public sector is costly (300 million euros investment in 2009) and third clinics OLS are found deficient.

This predicament is because, according to the FHP, the rates of repayment of Social Security, which provide 90% funding clinics are below 26% of the public, which no longer cover the costs of operation.

The government has undertaken a “convergence rate” but it will take several years.

For the federation of public hospitals, the Hospital Federation of France (FHF), this great country clinics is that they could not get the government to “do their market” in the public service missions, reserving the most lucrative.

“It was argued at the Ministry of Health that they could make a sale to the cutting of missions that are all related,” he told AFP communications director Cedric Lussiez. “They (the clinics) have asked for much just because they need to do volume,” he added.

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