One in Every Four Inpatient Cases to be Made Outpatient Starting 2023

Here is a quick update in 🇩🇪 German Medtech:

In continuing his desire to reform the German healthcare system, Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, aims to shift one in every four inpatient treatments to an outpatient capacity.

According to a recently published outline of the Regierungskommission für eine moderne und bedarfsgerechte Krankenhausversorgung (Schwerpunkt Krankenhausreform | BMG - Bundesgesundheitsministerium), Minister Lauterbach plans to allow hospitals to carry out all suitable treatments as day treatments as early as January.

The desired outcomes of such a reform are to reduce the number of “unnecessary” inpatient stays; thus, reducing the burden on the limited pool of hospital personnel. In the long run, this should make these care positions more attractive to skilled job seekers.

These wide-ranging reforms are, however, not free of criticism. According to an Ärzteblatt article, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) has criticized the announcement by calling it a “missed opportunity to initiate real reform”, instead of actually shaping new forms of care. Additionally, the German Medical Association (BÄK) warned that day treatments could be misused by hospital operators to compensate for staff shortages or to increase profits.

AiM Opinion:

The German healthcare system faces a structural issue in contrast to most other developed healthcare systems, namely, an overabundance of beds. In addition to longer average length of stays and higher rates of admission, the current level of care personnel are at their limit. These reforms should reduce the rate of admission; thus, freeing up beds and staff capacity at night and saving costs.

The key question we have is the “how”

Something is coming for 2023, but we don’t know how this will look in reality. There are existing methods of outpatient care in an inpatient capacity, such as the AOP catalogue, Pre/Post inpatient treatment and day clinics. Through legislation, an expansion of the AOP catalogue has already been initiated. Nevertheless, we will need to see if the targeted inpatient cases will be redistributed into existing care pathways, or if something bigger will develop.

Of course, if you have a product or procedure that could help in the cost and time saving badly needed in German hospitals, don’t hesitate to contact AiM for an initial consultation.

This information was sourced and paraphrased from Schwerpunkt Krankenhausreform | BMG - Bundesgesundheitsministerium and “Krankenhausreform: Lauterbach will jede vierte stationäre Behandlung ambulantisieren” by the Deutsches Ärzteblatt. You can find the original document here

AiM’s opinion belongs solely to AiM GmbH

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