Doctors fined for using paper forms

THE FRENCH healthcare system is wasting up to €200m a year on excessive paperwork, auditors have found.

The Cour des Comptes said too many doctors were still issuing paper feuilles de soins (medical claim forms) to patients instead of switching to the cheaper electronic carte vitale system.

Assurance Maladie offices around France - which process state healthcare refunds for treatment and medicines - received 150 million paper forms last year.

The paper feuille de soins costs €1.74 to produce, send and process. This compares with €0.27 when submitted electronically.

The electronic system is based on a card reader in the surgery that scans a patient's health insurance card and automatically sends details of the treatment to the local CPAM processing

centre for a refund to be issued.

The Assurance Maladie says it wants every doctor in France to switch to the carte vitale system within the next three months.

From May 1, any surgery still using paper forms will be charged a €0.50 penalty for every form filled out. Doctors will get a €0.07 bonus for each claim transmitted electronically instead.

According to the Cour des Comptes, 44% of GPs in Paris and more than 60% of specialist doctors are refusing to switch to the electronic system.

Doctors say getting their surgeries equipped with carte vitale readers and the necessary software costs about €1,000 up-front and between €300 and €400 every three years to keep running.