"Plan to wait at least two hours," a general practitioner told a patient a few weeks ago. "Because of the holidays and the departure of doctors, we have to wait longer," he told her.
Today the number of general practitioners is five in the French part. For the director general of the regional health agency (ARS), it is not so much the number of doctors that must be observed, but the time during which they consult. "This is called medical time," she says. Time that is not enough for several reasons.
“After Irma, doctors had left but also part of the population, so there was not really a shortage. However, for some time we have seen people coming back, but also that aging doctors have wanted to reduce their medical time, ”continues Valérie Denux, who does not hide certain“ concerns ”regarding the situation.
The ARS is therefore thinking about increasing overall medical time by favoring better coordination. "For example, if you call your doctor and he cannot take you, he should be able to direct you to one of his colleagues who will be available to receive you," explains the director.
This is made possible thanks to the shared medical file (DMP). "If you consult the other doctor, he will have access to your file via this device," continues Valérie Denux, who encourages all patients to complete their DMP. A sort of “digital health booklet that stores and secures your health information”, the DMP can be created by the patient himself online.
However, it remains for all health players to play the game and equip themselves to have access to the DMP of their customers.
In addition, always to increase medical time, the ARS is seeking to set up support for doctors by medical assistants, "a job that does not yet exist in Saint Martin". "For an assistant, it will be a question of preparing the consultation, performing acts such as taking blood pressure, etc., and providing the results to the doctor who will only have to focus on analyzing the results prescribe a prescription if necessary, ”adds the director of the ARS, who will be able to release funds to help doctors.
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