Skin cancer screening
As a skin cancer screening (sometimes simplistically as a skin screening referred to) is generally the study of a large population understood to early hitherto unrecognized skin cancer to diagnose. Since July 1, 2008, a nationwide skin cancer screening program has been offered by statutory health insurance companies across Germany .
Skin cancer screening in Germany
Requirements and implementation
Every legally insured person over the age of 35 is eligible. The examination can be carried out every 2 years. You can have the examination carried out by your family doctor or dermatologist, provided that they have acquired authorization to carry out the examination from the relevant association of statutory health insurance physicians . There is a short questioning, an examination of the skin, including the scalp, the visible mucous membranes and also the external genitals. A detailed diagnosis using dermatoscopy is expressly not intended. If cancer is suspected, the family doctor will refer you to the dermatologist, who will carry out the same examination again and continue to treat accordingly. If there is no suspicion of illness, there is a brief consultation on how to prevent skin cancer (sun protection, avoidance of solariums, etc.).
aims
The main concern is to detect and treat skin cancers at an early stage, thereby reducing mortality and morbidity . Another goal is to motivate the population to take advantage of the other preventive medical check-ups offered to a greater extent. In addition, people should be made more aware of behavior that is harmful to the skin. In the long term, the health insurance companies are also hoping for cost savings.
Problems
Particularly in regions with a scarce medical care structure, there is fear of considerable additional time burdens for doctors, with the result that waiting times will continue to increase. This can jeopardize the acceptance and thus also the success of the program, despite the relatively good liquidation (reimbursement) by the health insurance companies. There were also concerns that too many patients with ultimately harmless skin diseases were referred from general practitioners to dermatologists, which would exceed the capacity of outpatient dermatological care. However, the model test in Schleswig-Holstein has shown that this fear is unfounded.
After a period of five years, the data obtained will be scientifically evaluated. It will then be decided whether to what extent and in what form the skin cancer screening program will be continued in Germany. The success depends on whether it is possible to achieve a high level of awareness and a high number of participants in the population and among doctors.
In 2015, the consumer advice centers in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin examined 192 dermatologist practices with statutory health insurance approval in Cologne (42 practices) and Berlin (150 practices) to what extent dermatologists offer the statutory mandatory preventive care for skin cancer screening free of charge or from the outset as a chargeable additional medical service. The result showed that more than half of the dermatologists examined offered free screening as prescribed. However, one in five dermatologists circumvented the statutory precautionary obligation by offering only the self-payer service to patients with statutory health insurance from the outset or by pretending not to have an appointment free for statutory early diagnosis. Some practices had to completely pass the skin cancer screening as a mandatory service.
Web links
- Skin cancer screening ("Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dermatologische Prevention (ADP) eV")
- Early Cancer Detection Guidelines (Skin Cancer Screening) ( Federal Joint Committee )
- Patient information for skin cancer prevention ( Medical Center for Quality in Medicine )
- Black skin cancer ( Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care )
Individual evidence
- ↑ skin screening. (No longer available online.) BKK Faber-Castell & Partner, archived from the original on November 12, 2016 ; accessed on November 12, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ skin cancer screening. North Rhine Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians , accessed on July 18, 2013 .
- ↑ "Guaranteeing free skin cancer screening - one in five dermatologists does not offer health insurance benefits ( memento of the original from April 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove it Note. Press release of the consumer advice center NRW from April 2nd, 2015.
