A Look at Germany's Hospital Reform Following Lauterbach's Initiative by Successor Warken
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Enhancing the Hospital Reform Initiated by Predecesor Lauterbach - Accelerating adjustments to hospital policies initiated by former official Lauterbach, as proposed by Warken.
Warken refrained from divulging exact numbers regarding possible hospital closures, instead stating, "We'll see how many hospitals there'll be." However, it's clear that comprehensive healthcare coverage, guaranteeing both urban and rural citizens easy access to quality care, is a top priority.
The hospital reform spearheaded by Lauterbach was passed last year. It emphasizes a stronger hospital specialization and a partial shift from funding through case-based payments to a focus on maintaining and providing specific services. The main objective of this reform is to improve the overall quality of treatment in hospitals and prevent financially driven, uncontrolled hospital closures.
- Hospital Reform
- Karl Lauterbach
- Nina Warken
- CDU
- SPD
- Service Groups
- Hospitals
- Quality-driven Remuneration
- Transparency
Karl Lauterbach's tenure as Federal Health Minister paved the way for a hospital reform aimed at shifting the current Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG)-based flat-rate fee system for hospitals towards service-specific remuneration, or Vorhaltepauschalen. This change incentivizes quality over quantity in patient care, as hospitals would primarily receive compensation for providing specific services, not per individual service delivered.1
Lauterbach supported grouping hospitals into defined "service groups" to promote specialization and create better regional care strategies by focusing expertise within certain hospitals.1 This reform includes a three-year convergence phase leading to full implementation by 2027.1
Incoming Health Minister Nina Warken aims to build upon these reforms, primarily focusing on refining complex elements of care quality transparency and hospital remuneration mechanisms.3 Warken aims to increase services for people under the Statutory Health Insurance without raising costs for consumers, using increased personnel and improved funding efficiency to achieve this goal. She backs the "Atlas" initiative, which rates hospitals by their level of care quality and has the potential to influence hospital planning and decisions regarding closures.4
Warken continues the shift from flat-rate hospital fees to remuneration based on service groups and quality metrics. This should impact hospital closure predictions by encouraging the consolidation of services into specialized centers, potentially leading to closure or repurposing of lower-quality or less specialized hospitals in favor of higher-quality care providers.1
In sum, Lauterbach initiated a reform designed to shift remuneration away from quantity and towards quality. Warken will continue this effort with a focus on transparency, cost control, and enhancing care quality. The hospital reform is expected to lead to some hospital closures as services consolidate, ultimately aiming to elevate treatment quality across Germany's healthcare system.
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