German Medical Association
Berlin (ots)
German Medical Association President Dr. After today’s federal-state talks on hospital reform, Klaus Reinhardt calls for the agreed reform elements for hospital planning to be implemented as quickly as possible.
“In today’s consultations between the federal and state governments, major progress has apparently not yet been made. But one thing seems to be finally clear: the nationwide hospital reform should be based on the model from North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). That’s right, because in NRW, 60 well thought-out service groups for the hospital reform were developed in a broad participation process. We should start with this quickly.” The President of the German Medical Association, Dr. Klaus Reinhardt after today’s federal-state meeting on hospital reform in Berlin.
It is pragmatic not to further delay the reform by discussing the details of the “level” (care levels) desired by the federal government. The dispute over possible exceptions for the federal states does not lead any further either. “A reform of this magnitude can only be implemented step by step anyway. It is important that there is a nationwide harmonized planning system for the first time, which enables transparency with reliable structural quality,” says Reinhardt.
The President of the German Medical Association renewed his call to finally include those who are responsible for care locally in the further development of the reform. In particular, the state medical associations and the federal medical association should be involved in a structured manner. “Just as there can be no good hospital without the right doctors, there can also be no successful hospital reform without the cross-sector expertise of the medical associations. This is all the more true with a view to the new cross-sector structures such as Level II clinics or primary care centers,” said Reinhardt.
The President of the German Medical Association continues to worry about the financing of the reform: “Even after today’s meeting and the previously revised key issues paper of the Federal Ministry of Health, there is no coherent concept for the reform of hospital reimbursement. The idea of paying less for the cases and more is so correct for the provision of personnel and equipment, so little can the concepts available to date for a provision fee be convincing. Even if the federal government has revised its key points again: The volume incentive will remain, because the responsible case flat rate system (DRGs) ultimately remains. And almost Even worse: Despite the announcements to the contrary in the BMG key points, we have to expect that the billing bureaucracy will not decrease but actually increase. This is bad news for all employees in the hospitals, for whom the bureaucracy is already robbing the time for patient care .”
Reinhardt called for a completely new approach to the remuneration reform. Here, too, the organizations from the healthcare sector would have to sit at the table. “In view of the precarious situation of many hospitals, the federal and state governments should know that better hospital structures cannot be available for free. Today’s announcements about investment financing and a new structural fund are far too vague and misjudge the seriousness of the situation. The hospitals need help in the short term. Otherwise we will experience a cold structural change this year, which will ultimately also affect the hospitals that we urgently need for patient care,” said the BÄK President.
The federal and state governments must be willing to make sustainable investments in the structural change in hospitals – this is the only way to ensure a resilient, sustainable hospital landscape with high-quality patient care in the long term.
Press contact:
German Medical Association
Department of Politics and Communication
Herbert-Lewin-Platz 1
10623 Berlin
Tel.: (030) 4004 56 700
Fax: (030) 4004 56 707
E-Mail: [email protected]
Original content from: German Medical Association, transmitted by news aktuell