Why are those it affects not asked?
Once a year, the Asklepios clinics ask patients about their treatment preferences as part of the “Health and medical care today and tomorrow” study. This shows that trust in outpatient operations is growing. However, the study also shows that patients still think of the outpatient and inpatient sectors as very separate. Practice clinics have long combined the advantages of both sectors and are therefore the key to successful outpatient treatment in the operating room.
Around three out of four respondents welcome the trend towards outpatient medical treatment and operations “very” or “somewhat”. This is the conclusion of a study published in May 2023 by the Asklepios Kliniken. As many as 60 percent of those surveyed would opt for an outpatient operation, which would allow them to return home on the same day, rather than the option of an inpatient stay.
However, the patients disagree on exactly where the outpatient treatment should take place. Around half of the patients would carry out the outpatient treatment in the hospital, the other half would prefer in a practice by a resident specialist. The decisive criterion for one side or the other is probably the patient’s personal assessment of who has better equipment and where any complications can be treated better. clinic or practice? That is the question of faith here. Or maybe not?
“For more than 20 years, so-called practice clinics and outpatient surgery centers have been proving that the advantages of both worlds – practice and hospital – can be combined without any problems,” says Dr. Rüdiger Söder, President of the German Practice Clinic Society (PKG). For years, the company has been committed to overcoming the outdated sector boundaries in Germany. In practice clinics, resident specialists operate on an outpatient basis and – thanks to the small number of beds – are able to keep patients in the practice clinic for one to two days for extended aftercare for major outpatient procedures. “Similar to a hospital, practice clinics have several specialist departments under one roof. They offer the highest medical standards and modern equipment. In addition, there are motivated doctors and nurses who, thanks to a lower nursing key, can really take care of the patients. If we really want to overcome the sectoral boundaries in the healthcare sector, then it won’t be enough to move outpatient operating theaters to hospitals. Instead, we have to expand the practice clinics and network them even better with the hospitals.” Söder does not understand why politicians keep saying that they want to overcome the sector boundary, but then hardly or not at all deal with the players who push the boundary in the clinical have long since overcome practice.
One of the major political mistakes in the planned reforms is the assumption that the efficiency of outpatient operations can be integrated 1 to 1 in a hospital. However, this is not the case. “Outpatient surgery requires its own process and infrastructure. Hospitals are not designed for that. Simply bringing outpatient surgery to the clinics is like maneuvering a giant oil tanker through the small canals of Venice. That does not work. They need a smaller boat,” explains Stefan Elmshäuser, Managing Director of PKG. This is exactly where the practice clinics come into play, which have been building up know-how regarding so-called hospital-replacing operations for 20 years.
Attempts have already been made in the past to set the course for outpatient treatment in the healthcare system. But despite the great pressure on the hospitals, patients are still denied outpatient procedures that are already carried out on an outpatient basis as standard in the practice clinics. These include, for example, cruciate ligament plastics, shoulder operations, a large proportion of inguinal hernia and varicose vein operations, a large proportion of gynecological operations and many more.
With all these operations, higher revenues can be achieved in an inpatient setting. It’s no wonder that hospitals are less motivated to take the path of outpatient treatment, as practice clinics have long since done.
According to § 122 of the SGB V, the possibilities of the ward-replacing treatment of the practice clinic should have been recorded in a separate service and framework agreement for a long time. However, such a contract has so far been repeatedly thwarted by the central association of health insurance companies with a view to the financial supply of hospitals. Not only the patients would benefit from the expansion of outpatient surgery, but also the healthcare system as a whole. This is now even said by 88 percent of the patients surveyed in the previously cited Asklepios study. “One thing is certain: Patients not only want outpatient treatment in the healthcare system, they also understand it,” explains Stefan Elmshäuser from PKG. “However, without the consistent promotion of practice clinics, this step will not lead to the desired results. The plans for how practice clinics and hospitals can bundle their synergies have been on the table for years. It is high time to implement them together and to no longer just focus on the classic hospital in our healthcare system.”
The German Practice Clinic Society eV
For years, the practice clinic company has been committed to sustainably modernizing the German healthcare system. One of the most important goals is the development of binding, regulated, cross-sectoral patient care that creates planning security for patients and healthcare facilities. Equal rights and obligations, equal and high quality requirements and a common compensation system are the necessary steps to achieve this.
You can find more information at www.pkgev.de
The German Practice Clinic Society (PKG eV)
For years, the practice clinic company has been committed to sustainably modernizing the German healthcare system. One of the most important goals is the development of binding, regulated, cross-sectoral patient care that creates planning security for patients and healthcare facilities. Equal rights and obligations, equal and high quality requirements and a common compensation system are the necessary steps to achieve this.
company contact
German Practice Clinic Society (PKG) eV
Stefan Elmshauser
Bismarckstrasse 45-47
10627 Berlin
0151
57808300
Press contact
German Practice Clinic Society (PKG) eV
Stefan Elmshauser
Bismarckstrasse 45-47
10627 Berlin
0151
57808300