The COVID-19 Crisis and its impact on the German ambulatory sector - the physicians view

Abstract: The COVID-19 crisis not only has an impact on the inpatient sector of care but also on general practitioners and specialists in private practice, who provide the majority of general outpatient and specialist medical care in Germany. In addition to the acute consequences for the quality of care, long-term consequences for patients and care providers are to be expected because of the COVID-19 crisis. To learn more about the current situation, as well as the expected and actual long-term consequences, general practitioners and specialists will be surveyed throughout Germany as part of the study. For this purpose, a random selection of general practitioners (n = 5,000), internists (n = 3,000), ENT specialists (n = 2,000), pediatricians (n = 3,000), gynecologists (n = 2,000), and dentists (n = 4,000) will be surveyed anonymously using an online questionnaire. At the same time, the questionnaire offers the possibility to give extensive free text answers, which are analyzed qualitatively to form the basis of the next surveys. The online surveys will be conducted as trend analyses (3 cross-sectional analyses) after 2, 5, and 13 months. Differences according to urban-rural areas (degree of spatial aggregation), age and gender, medical specialization, and organizational form of the practice (community health center (MVZ), shared practice, or group practice) will be analyzed, and statistical group comparisons will be carried out. The aim is to find out which specialist groups are burdened to what extent and what effects are expected for the future.; Research Type: social sciences; Study population: general practitioners