In an interview with our colleagues from RTL Radio on Wednesday morning, AMMD Vice President Dr Philippe Wilmes argued that ministries provoked a gridlock in the healthcare sector, and that the AMMD will now increase the pressure.
Despite a verbal agreement between government and doctors, the state is said to place unnecessary obstacles in the path of doctors, Dr Wilmes said.
The main sticking point currently is a software designed to facilitate digital payments and administration of files. This would allow patients to pay their bills and collect prescriptions through an app.
The AMMD co-founded the firm Digital Health Network (DHN) and invested close to €4 million into the project. The association did so due to alleged promises made by Minister of Health Paulette Lenert and the National Health Fund (CNS).
However, the AMMD is now saying that they have been left high and dry despite a verbal agreement and a letter of intent.
The AMMD has issued an ultimatum to Ministers Claude Haagen and Paulette Lenert, giving them until 17 May to respond to their demands.
First, the AMMD demands that the E-Santé Agency authorise the electronic signature developed by DHN to validate medical documents and make the signature forgery-proof.
All documentation, from prescriptions to medical certificates, must be authorised for transfer to the E-Santé Agency. DHN would also like to benefit from the financial support announced by Minister of Social Security Claude Haagen at the end of April. Dr Wilmes estimates the budget for this “deployment aid” at just over €2 million.
“You made a €4 million investment based solely on a letter of intent and a verbal agreement. Couldn’t the AMMD be reproached for acting naively?” our colleagues asked their guest. Dr Wilmes responded that the AMMD invested in a good idea. “Sometimes, if you want to start something positive, you have to take certain risks,” he argued. In addition, the AMMD assumed at the time that they were “launching something together with policymakers.”
Dr Wilmes ruled out any actions that would be to the detriment of patients if the government did not respond to the AMMD by 17 May. In that case, the association would take “actions that will involve residents so that everyone understands where the problem lies,” the AMMD Vice President said.
Former Minister of Health and MP for the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP), Mars Di Bartolomeo, reacted to the interview with the following tweet on Wednesday morning:
“Doctor or investor? My questions: who exactly is DHN, which seeks to become a privileged partner of the e-Santé project? Who exactly invested in it? A bunch of doctors? The AMMD? With their own funds or with loans? At which AMMD general assembly was this decided?”
