Hospital.Help

Berlin – Doctors’ time must be used more efficiently in the German health care system. This was demanded by Yüksel König, member of the board of the Berlin Medical Association (ÄKB), yesterday at the Capital Congress (HSK) in Berlin.

“If we manage to optimize the use of doctors’ time, this will not only affect the quality of treatment, but also the satisfaction of the doctors,” said König. More teamwork, more interdisciplinarity and more cross-sectoral cooperation could help here.

The number of doctors in the German health care system has been increasing for years. “But the sheer number says nothing about whether we have good care or not,” emphasized König, who works as chief physician in the Endocrine Surgery Clinic at the Vivantes Humboldt Clinic in Berlin. “What matters is how many doctors work in direct patient care.” The efficient use of doctors’ time is a crucial lever for changes in the health care system.

More time for further training

The sensible use of IT and technology can also help to use doctors’ time more efficiently, explained König: “Today we spend far too much time on nerve-racking data matching. Digitization should reduce the workload, not shift it.”

She called for a legal requirement for IT systems to be implemented in the health care system. “And we need more time for further training,” said König. “We can only inspire young doctors if we provide enough time for further training.” To achieve this, further training must be factored into the cost of care.

She also criticized the fact that patient contact in Germany only lasts five minutes. “During this time, the doctor cannot take a proper medical history or create a treatment plan,” criticized König. “As a result, the patient has doubts and may go to another doctor to get more information.”

Work organisational weaknesses

Julian Dilling from the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds quoted from the current report by the German Advisory Council on Health (SVR), which was recently published on the subject of skilled workers. “The international comparison of the individual professional groups provides evidence that the German health system has a relatively high number of employees per capita,” it states.

“Nevertheless, the workload on employees is comparatively high, as there are a larger number of cases or patients per capita in Germany.”

This indicates, among other things, weaknesses in the work organisation and structure of the German health system. “Resolving these weaknesses should be the focus of health policy efforts, because simply increasing the number of employees is expensive, does not seem realistic due to demographic developments and promotes the maintenance of inefficient structures,” the report states.

Cancel quarterly payment of chronic disease allowance

Michael Weller, head of the “Health Care, Health Insurance” department at the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), announced legal changes to reduce the number of unnecessary doctor contacts.

For example, the Health Care Strengthening Act (GVSG), which was discussed in the first reading in the Bundestag today, would abolish the quarterly payment of the chronic disease flat rate and introduce a flat rate for care that would be billed annually.

Weller also criticized the fact that the emergency services are now better paid when they take patients to hospital – even if they do not need to be taken to hospital from a medical point of view. This regulation should be changed with the Emergency Services Act. © fos/aerzteblatt.de