When health knowledge increases, it benefits every single patient, but also everyone responsible in the healthcare system. Because the more knowledge patients have about their own health, disease, symptoms and treatment options, the more successful therapy can be. At the same time, health knowledge is an important basis for preventing lifestyle-related illnesses such as diabetes from occurring in the first place.
doctor-patient conversation
Above all, the doctor-patient discussion is important in order to explain the diagnosis and treatment to the patient in an understandable way. Talking medicine must therefore play a greater role in the training and, above all, in the further training of doctors and nurses. It is therefore good that last year’s Doctors’ Day took up talking medicine and announced measures to further improve the doctor-patient dialogue. Self-government in the healthcare system aims to give the conversation back the status it deserves in practice. The assessment committee, which is made up of representatives of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds and is responsible for questions about reimbursement, rated the “conversation figures” in the uniform assessment scale (EBM) higher on January 1, 2015 and will also address the issue in the next stage of the so-called EBM reform.
National Cancer Plan
As part of the National Cancer Plan, the Federal Ministry of Health has funded various projects to better address and inform patients. For example, a model curriculum was developed that teaches students throughout their medical studies the skills to communicate knowledge about diagnosis and therapy in a comprehensible manner and to accompany patients during therapy. Many medical schools have already committed to help implement the curriculum. The model curriculum was developed as an example for cancer, but also lays the general basis for medical discussions. (Additional Information)
Prevention Act
With the Prevention Act, which came into force last year, the national health goal of increasing health knowledge in Germany and strengthening patient self-determination was once again anchored. The Prevention Act is also about imparting health knowledge such as a healthy diet and sufficient exercise directly where people live, learn and work, e.g. in day-care centers or schools. In addition, advice from doctors on prevention issues, such as early detection check-ups for children and young people, has been expanded.
Improving health knowledge in the long term
Federal Minister of Health Hermann Gröhe will bring everyone involved in the healthcare system – doctors, health insurance companies, pharmacies, care, consumer and self-help associations and authorities – to one table to jointly record what contribution each individual can make in his area in the future to make the healthcare system sustainable improve. As an important building block for examining health knowledge, the Robert Koch Institute is to carry out a survey of health and patient competence as part of health monitoring. This provides important information about what type of knowledge transfer on health topics is particularly successful.