Greens propose health app and stronger weekend doctor cover

The Lower Austrian Greens have proposed an app to bring health services together and improve care across the state, ORF reported on Tuesday.

At a news conference, party state spokesperson Helga Krismer said existing services such as the 1450 health advice hotline and the 141 doctors’ on-call service were useful but poorly promoted. The 144 emergency number was widely recognised, she said, unlike 141 and 1450.

The proposed app, called NOEDOC, would show users which nearby doctors’ offices and pharmacies were open and which doctor was on call after they entered their location. Users could also enter symptoms through a chatbot and request a callback. Krismer said the app could eventually allow people to receive prescriptions at night.

Krismer also said weekend cover by doctors in private practice varied by region, with some services unstaffed. She called for more medical care outside regular office hours, with an on-call service in every district. Weekend and public holiday services are currently provided on a voluntary basis in Lower Austria.

She urged the state to work with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund and the Medical Chamber to make on-call work more attractive. Krismer cited the model in Raabs an der Thaya, where an emergency physician base is due to close as part of a 2027 reform, and Upper Austria’s general-practitioner emergency service as examples.

NEOS health spokeswoman Edith Kollermann said the Greens were addressing symptoms rather than causes. Attracting doctors to weekend shifts and regional care would require better working conditions and less bureaucracy, she said in a written statement.