The digitalization of healthcare payments in Luxembourg: controversial progress

The first general practitioners in Luxembourg are starting to use Immediate Direct Payment (PID). Dentists and specialist physicians who wish to do so are expected to follow.

On 12 December 2023 at 5:12 pm, Patrick Jacquemot published an update on the rollout of PID in Luxembourg. According to Claude Haagen, then Minister of Social Security, the rollout was "on the verge of becoming a reality". His successor, Martine Deprez (DP), has since confirmed that about fifteen physicians in Luxembourg were already using the service.

Some critics point out that this is only 3% of the 525 general practitioners working in Luxembourg. Supporters of the system point to the lower out-of-pocket costs for patients at consultations and treatments: patients pay only the part not covered by health insurance, as they already do in pharmacies.

It will be some time before all general practitioners use PID. According to the announced plans, PID was to be extended "by the first quarter of 2024" to dental practices and all specialist physicians. The minister confirmed this timetable.

Some healthcare professionals contest the measure. The Association of Physicians and Dentists (AMMD) has expressed doubts about the reliability of such rapid digitalization. Its president, Alain Schmit, is concerned about the protection of the data transmitted through PID, which include the medical acts and services provided: "what we send to the CNS is not neutral, if only the fee statements".

This disagreement led the AMMD representatives to leave the Management Board of the eHealth Agency, which is responsible for developing PID and the Shared Medical Record.

The Minister of Health and Social Security also denied the claim that physicians equipped with PID receive a financial incentive. The 625 euros paid for each PID put into service go to the software publishers.