"One-Doctor" Deal For French Patients?

French patients would agree voluntarily to consult only a generalpractitioner before any other doctor under a radical deal signed between the medical profession and the health funds.

The principle of choice, which has led to multiple medical consultations by French patients, would be replaced by a new category of GPs which the patient would consult, modeled on the UK system.

GPs would see patients on the basis of a Sector 1 tariff and so reduce reimbursement costs. Doctors would also agree to moderate prescribing and would be paid directly by social security. In contrast to the UK system, the new arrangement would be voluntary and the financial incentives modest. France up to now has favored specialist consultation so much that it has almost as many medical specialists as GPs.