German Evangelical Hospital Association e. V. (DEKV)
Berlin (ots)
The health ministers of the federal and state governments were also unable to agree on common key points for the hospital reform at yesterday’s fireside chat. The hospitals are in a difficult economic situation due to inflation and wage increases and urgently need planning security. “The paper submitted by the Federal Ministry of Health is a good starting point for a transformation of the hospital landscape to succeed,” says Christoph Radbruch, Chairman of the German Evangelical Hospital Association, assessing the framework agreed by the health ministers for further discussion. The decoupling of service groups and hospital levels that has now been carried out enables the federal states to plan a needs-based supply landscape. It is now a matter of defining the structural requirements for the individual service areas in a way that is practical and flexible enough to take regional characteristics into account.
Separate level for specialist clinics
With a separate level for specialist clinics, the cornerstones reflect the important role these hospitals play in caring for sick people. “We welcome the fact that not only clinics that specialize in certain clinical pictures, but also hospitals that focus on particularly vulnerable patient groups, such as disabled people, can continue to make their important contribution to patient care,” emphasizes Radbruch.
Level 1i criteria need to be further developed
Unfortunately, the proposals for outpatient-inpatient centers, the so-called Level 1i hospitals, are not yet specific enough for hospital operators to be able to plan such facilities. It is not described clearly enough which supply mandate Level 1i hospitals have and how these are embedded in the supply chain. “The restrictive requirement that almost exclusively existing hospitals should be converted into Level 1i buildings gives the impression that the only aim is to prevent local political protests when hospitals are closed,” says Radbruch.
Further development of the DRG system instead of a revision of hospital financing
“Even if many questions remain unanswered when it comes to designing the maintenance costs as a new, third financing pillar, the indicated redesign of the compensation for lost revenue seems to be a further development of the tried-and-tested DRG system, without a complete conversion of the DRG system now via the breaking knees,” is how Radbruch describes the changes in hospital financing.
Press contact:
Medicine & PR GmbH – health communication
Barbara Kluge | Eupener Strasse 60, 50933 Cologne
E-Mail: [email protected] | Tel.: 0221 / 77543-12
Melanie Chancellor | Association Director
E-Mail: [email protected] | Tel.: 030 200 514 19 0
Original content by: German Evangelical Hospital Association e. V. (DEKV), transmitted by news aktuell