The BDPK held its national congress in Berlin on 13 June 2024, at which the current hospital reform was discussed.
BDPK President Dr Katharina Nebel emphasised that the private hospital operators do not question the need for reform. “We immediately subscribe to more outpatient care, more quality through specialisation and more specialists, above all through less bureaucracy,” explained Nebel. However, the BDPK fears that these goals will not be achieved with a poorly crafted hospital reform and that it will instead have the effect of a hospital closure programme. The reform law passed by the Federal Cabinet must therefore now be fundamentally improved in the parliamentary process. One of the numerous shortcomings of the bill is that it aims to counteract the dependency of hospitals on the number of cases, which the Federal Minister of Health has criticised, with a case number-dependent fixed income (Vorhaltevergütung). This is absurd and cannot contribute to achieving the specified goal of “de-economisation”.
Regardless of the improvements that may still be made, the BDPK sees a need for further reform and warns against a path towards state medicine. BDPK board member Dr Mate Ivančić used the example of the National Health Service (NHS), the state healthcare system in England, to illustrate the negative consequences of this. The lack of economic incentives there has led to radical efficiency losses and extremely long treatment waiting times for patients. In contrast, there have been no improvements in quality. In order to prevent such a development in Germany, the BDPK believes that the political course for the future must be set now and innovative approaches are required.
Another topic at the BDPK Federal Congress was the binding decisions of the German Pension Insurance (DRV), which are intended to ensure the transparent and non-discriminatory allocation of rehabilitation services. The BDPK criticises the fact that the German Pension Insurance favours its own facilities when awarding contracts, which is not non-discriminatory. A number of clinics have therefore taken legal action against the DRV. During the talks, clinics and pension insurance providers agreed that a solution must be found through negotiation.
Jens Wernick, UEHP Vice President and Ilaria Giannico, UEHP Secretary General
Article published on the BDPK website
Also read the article on the Government website “Great inpatient treatment for all”
