“Who’s afraid of the round table?”

No hospital reform without the experts for outpatient operations – the practice clinics

The good news: Under Federal Health Minister Prof. Dr. Karl Lauterbach is finally picking up speed on the overdue hospital reform project. The bad news: politicians are still forgetting to bring the expertise of the outpatient specialists, the practice clinics, on board for the project. A critical review of the hospital summit 2023.

The hospital summit 2023 on March 13 in Berlin was once again a big, but unfortunately absolutely predictable theatre. The topics: country skirmishes, party-political games, strategy debates that ignore the actual problems. In one of the main roles of the play, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach could be admired, who would like to change the right things (more outpatient treatment, sector coupling, moving away from the system of flat rates per case). Too bad that the experts needed for this, the practice clinics, of all people, were not invited to the summit. No wonder: Lauterbach’s opponent on stage was once again Dr. Gerald Gass, head of the German Hospital Society DKG, who did exactly what hospitals in crisis situations have been doing for decades at the hospital summit: demand more money instead of finally tackling the urgently needed structural changes for the benefit of patients.

Myth of underfunding

Thanks to the persistent lobbying of the DKG, the myth that hospitals in this country are insufficiently funded or even ruined is still rife in Germany. However, the truth is that hospitals have been clinging to administrative and surgical structures for years that have long since fallen short of medical standards. “If you compare hospitals to the communications industry, everyone has long been working with e-mails and messengers, while hospitals complain that they need more money because their fax machines are so expensive to maintain.” Stefan Elmshäuser, Managing Director of the German Practice Clinic Society PKG. “For years, practice clinics have shown the enormous potential of outpatient surgery. In contrast to 20 or 30 years ago, we can now perform a large number of operations on an outpatient basis instead of inpatients and organize the operations in such a way that patients, nurses and even the health budget benefit from them.”

Who’s Afraid of the Round Table?

It is therefore nice that Dr. Gass noted at the hospital summit in 2023 that hospitals must be given the opportunity to exploit their outpatient potential. But why weren’t those who know how outpatient surgery works, the practice clinics, not invited to the hospital summit because they’ve been doing it day in and day out for more than 20 years? “For months we have been calling for a round table with everyone involved to show how the cooperation between practice clinics and hospitals, between the outpatient and inpatient sectors, can be organized in such a way that we can solve many of the current problems in the operating room and not just the causes Fight symptoms.”, explains Dr. Rüdiger Söder, President of the German Practice Clinic Society PKG. “We must finally – as many countries have already done – break up the rigid thinking in sectors in order to improve the care of our patients in the long term.”

Inconvenient Truths

This also includes finally no longer hiding from uncomfortable truths. Why can practice clinics perform the same surgical services as hospitals faster and more cost-effectively in many areas? Why do practice clinics manage to set up a personnel ratio that is reasonable for the nursing staff and comfortable for the patients? Why do practice clinics regularly achieve patient satisfaction of over 95 percent? How have practice clinics been able to successfully combat hospital germs for years? “We need hospitals. Today and in the future. That’s out of the question. But we need hospitals that are organized and structured differently,” explains Elmshäuser. “And above all, we finally need resilient networks of all relevant players in the health care system and no longer competing against each other. We have to properly network outpatient and short-stay practice clinics and hospitals so that everyone involved can concentrate on their strengths. We don’t have to spend more money on this, but use the money in the right places.” A pure hospital summit without the participation of the practice clinics, as it has now taken place again, is out of date and will also not bring any lasting success. “Our invitation to a real summit is open. We are ready. “Söder and Elmshäuser said.

As a practice clinic association, we fully agree with the statements of the SPIFA eV and the Virchow Association!

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.

Image source: @AdobeStock_125340628.jpeg

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
xsel GmbH
Stefan Elmshauser
Hochackerstrasse 52a
85521 Riemerling
0151
57808300