Call for Transparency from the Istanbul Medical Chamber Regarding the Ministry of Health's REDES Practice
The Istanbul Medical Chamber stated that Risk-Based Audit System practices create pressure on physicians and directed critical questions to the Ministry.
The Istanbul Medical Chamber Family Physicians Commission issued a press statement regarding the Risk-Based Audit System implemented by the Ministry of Health, calling for transparency in the process.
Rationale and Scope of the Practice
The Risk-Based Audit System was implemented by the Ministry of Health in order to detect irregularities, corruption, and the misuse of public resources in healthcare services.
Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu had stated that the system is used in 81 provinces with 356 representatives, monitoring 34 different risk categories, and that approximately 10,000 audits have been carried out over the past year.
Allegations of Pressure on Physicians
The Istanbul Medical Chamber Family Physicians Commission stated that family medicine cannot be evaluated solely through numerical indicators and electronic records.
It was emphasized that professional independence is undermined under the guise of audits and that physicians are left facing the constant threat of investigations.
Demand for Transparency and Data Sharing
The failure to share comprehensive data regarding the grounds and results of investigations initiated through artificial intelligence was criticized.
It was stated that not disclosing the results of thousands of audits leaves healthcare workers under suspicion and the pressure of penalties.
Questions Directed to the Ministry
It was asked how many of the investigations resulted in disciplinary penalties or contract terminations and how many cases of actual corruption were detected.
Attention was drawn to why the algorithms and threshold values used in risk assessments are not shared with healthcare workers.
Assurance and Cancellation Processes
It was requested that electronic record errors and issues originating from information systems not be loaded onto the responsibility of physicians.
Information was demanded regarding how many investigations arising from REDES were cancelled as a result of objection or judicial processes.
The Chamber's Core Demands
The Istanbul Medical Chamber demanded that the operations carried out be made transparent and that algorithmic risk notifications not be considered a fault on their own.
The call to guarantee the rights of healthcare workers was shared with the public.