Last 9-12 October, our President and Secretary General accompanied a delegation of the French Hospital Federation – branch long term care and rehabilitation (FHP-SMR) during a study tour in Berlin.
During the first day the French delegation had the chance to meet their German peers from the Bundesverband Deutscher Privatkliniken e.V. (BDPK) who welcomed the participants in their offices. Mr Bublitz, Director of BDPK, gave a detailed presentation about the healthcare systems in Germany, the different types of insurances, the organization and provision of rehabilitation services and the recent hospital reform currently being discussed in Germany.
After that, Ms Neudam, focused on quality measurements presenting the project DAS REHAPORTAL – Qualitaetskliniken.de, winner of the European private Hospitals Awards 2022 as “Best patient focused initiative”. As an online public reporting platform, DAS REHAPORTAL powered by Qualitätskliniken.de, aims to compare rehab clinics based on easily understandable and scientifically based facts about the clinics’ quality. The platform also supports patients, relatives and professionals with their choice of an adequate clinic that matches the patients’ needs. By providing clear information on quality, equipment, the range of services and amenities, users can benchmark the participating clinics among each other. Before the start of DAS REHAPORTAL, there was no publicly available quality data in the field of rehab facilities, neither for professionals nor for patients.
In the afternoon, the delegation visited the Rehaklinik Medical Park Klinik Humboldtmühle, belonging to the Medical park group. The clinic Humboldtmühle specialises in neurological and orthopedic prevention and rehabilitation.
The second day was dedicated to the visit of the Mediclin rehabilitation center of the Asklepios hospital group in the beautiful Spreewald. The clinic opened in 1994 in a historical building a UNESCO biodiversity reservoir. It counts 272 beds in 3 specialties: Orthopedic (1,871 patients in 2022), Internal medicine, Cardiology and diabetology (972 patients in 2022), Neurology (988 patients in 2022). Thousand thanks to Dr Fricke and to our dearest colleague Kirsten Turner for the insightful visit and the perfect organisation!
The third day was dedicated to two visits: the first one was the ambulatory rehabilitation clinic ZAR, from Nanz Medico group. It was originally a pilot project commissioned by the Ministry of Labor and scientifically supported by IGES Berlin (independent institute for research and advice in the field of infrastructure and health). This model has proven itself to be attractive to young people, people with children, but also the elderly. It has a strong focus on tele-rehabilitation with a dedicated app.
The second visit was at IBM iX Berlin, mainly focusing on the use of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare and what it can bring to the field of health. IBM offers various infrastructures, particularly in terms of computerized patient records, digital prescriptions and secure communications between doctors and with hospitals.
Thanks to our German colleagues from Bundesverband Deutscher Privatkliniken e.V. (BDPK) and to the hospital managers who welcomed us so warmly in their rehabilitation facilities. The study tour was all about insightful presentations, hospital visits and lively exchanges comparing the French and the German healthcare systems. The experience was extremely enriching and productive for all the participants and it was also the opportunity for our team in UEHP to tighten the ties with both our German and French members. Lots of new ideas came up and we will follow up with more common projects and joint UEHP – FHP-SMR activities in the coming months.
