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HEALTH

Austria approves changes to the mandatory ‘family passport’ Mutter-Kind-Pass

Pregnant people in Austria receive a 'Mutter-Kind-Pass', a document that will store all the medical information about their pregnancy and their child and is mandatory to receive certain social benefits. Here's what's changing.

Published: 24 May 2023 15:52 CEST
Austria approves changes to the mandatory 'family passport' Mutter-Kind-Pass
The Mutter-Kind-Pass enables pregnant women in Austria to access free medical examinations. (Photo by Kristina Paukshtite / Pexels)

The Council of Ministers has approved the reform of the mother-child passport (Mutter-Kind-Pass), which was initially introduced in 1974 in Austria.

Starting in January 2024, the preventive care program will be renamed the Eltern-Kind-Pass (Parent-Child Pass). Over the course of the next few years, until 2026, the range of services provided will be expanded to include additional offerings for pregnant women and newborns. Furthermore, a digital version of the pass will be introduced.

The Parents-Child Pass Act is expected to be passed by the National Council in June, the Health Ministry stated in a press release.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about parental leave in Austria

New benefits for families

The reformed parent-child pass will offer new benefits, such as an early health consultation during pregnancy, an optional second consultation with a midwife before childbirth, and parenting advice. Additional screenings for newborns, including hearing tests and ultrasounds, as well as additional laboratory tests and nutrition and health counselling for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and new parents, will also be available.

Johannes Rauch, the Health Minister from the Green Party, praised the parent-child pass as a successful model. He emphasised that the screening examinations would aid in the early detection and timely treatment of medically relevant abnormalities, thus preventing numerous deaths. Furthermore, Rauch highlighted the significance of these benefits for those without access to such examinations otherwise.

Susanne Raab, the Family Minister from the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), highlighted the addition of a new parenting advice service as part of the preventive measures. “We can offer parents and especially women information for decisions when it comes to sharing as partners and increase the participation of fathers”, she said.

READ ALSO: ‘Explore all options’: How can parents in Austria choose the right school?

The digitisation of the screening program will significantly improve the documentation of examination results. This will enable the seamless transfer of findings between attending physicians and midwives through the Electronic Health Record (ELGA), according to the Ministry.

Overall, the government said these reforms aim to enhance the parent-child pass program, offering expanded services, improved documentation, and increased access to information and support for parents and their children.

What is the Mutter-Kind-Pass?

The Mutter-Kind-Pass is a small, yellow passport-style document that plays a vital role in providing and monitoring healthcare for pregnant women and young children in Austria.

Once a doctor confirms a pregnancy, the Mutter-Kind-Pass is issued to the expectant mother. It serves as a comprehensive record of medical examinations throughout the pregnancy and includes health check-ups for the child up to the age of five.

READ ALSO: Ten things you will notice as a parent with a child at school in Austria

The primary purpose of the Mutter-Kind-Pass is to ensure that pregnant women and children receive the necessary medical care they require. Furthermore, it is an essential document for receiving maternity pay in Austria, as the expected delivery date is recorded within it.

Furthermore, presenting proof of examinations recorded in the Mutter-Kind-Pass is essential for receiving the full entitlement to childcare allowance (Kinderbetreuungsgeld). Therefore, carrying the pass to all maternity-related appointments is recommended, as advised by the Österreichische Gesundheitskasse.

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HEALTH

Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Waiting times to get appointments with health specialists in Vienna have increased significantly, a new study has revealed.

Published: 17 May 2024 09:56 CEST
Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Accessing essential healthcare within a reasonable timeframe is becoming increasingly difficult for Viennese residents.

The Vienna Medical Association presented their new study this week which shows that waiting times for appointments with health specialists have increased significantly in recent years.

The study, which involved contacting over 850 doctors’ practices via so-called “mystery calls,” revealed that child and adolescent psychiatry currently had the longest waiting times in the city.

Patients can expect to wait an average of 90 days for an appointment.

Other specialisations where patients have to wait long to receive help include radiology (57 days), neurology (45 days), ophthalmology (44 days), pulmonology (36 days), internal medicine (33 days), and dermatology (28 days).

The waiting time for seeing a gynaecologist has increased fourfold since 2012, with patients now waiting an average of 32 days.

READ MORE: Why are there fewer public sector doctors in Austria?

No new patients accepted

In certain specialist areas, there is no capacity to accommodate new patients. The situation where no new patients are accepted occurs particularly often in paediatric practices, where more than half of the public healthcare practices have put a freeze on admissions.

In child and adolescent psychiatry, 40 percent do not accept new patients, and among gynaecologists, it is almost a third (30 percent). Family doctors also struggle with welcoming new patients, and many of their practices have already reached full capacity.

The Medical Association calls for immediate action, urging the health insurance sector to become more attractive and receive better funding. This could involve measures to incentivise doctors to work within the public system, potentially reducing wait times and improving patient access to care.

During the study presentation, Johannes Steinhart, president of the association, described the increased waiting times as the result of neglect within the established health insurance sector. He said he believes that the public health system is massively endangered.

Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, chairwoman of the Curia of the resident doctors in the association, pointed out that while the population of the federal capital has grown by 16 percent since 2012, the number of public doctors has fallen by 12 percent in the same period.

The association now wants to make the public healthcare system more attractive to doctors, which could cut down waiting times and make it easier for patients to receive care. The association’s demands for this to happen include increasing flexibility in contract options, integrating health and social professions in individual practices, reducing bureaucracy, and improving fees.

ÖGK, Österreichische Gesundheitskasse, Austria’s largest public healthcare fund, is currently creating 100 additional public health positions, with almost two-thirds of the positions already having applicants, as well as planning for another 100 positions. They also aim to create a central telemedicine service and a platform for making appointments by phone and online, which is meant to reduce waiting times and improve access to care.

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