Hospital.Help

Düsseldorf – German hospitals are still skeptical and pessimistic about the possible effects of the hospital reforms of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). This is shown by the summer survey of the German Hospital Institute (DKI) for the hospital index.

358 hospitals across Germany were surveyed. 71 percent of the clinics assume that the economic pressure will not decrease as Lauterbach announced, but rather increase. 95 percent expect that the planned reserve financing will not be sufficient if the number of cases stagnates or decreases.

Expectations regarding the general financing situation of hospitals are even more pessimistic: 100 percent of maximum care providers expect that financing will not be sufficient, while among primary care providers the figure is still 98 percent.

“Hospitals need planning security, the survey results show this very clearly. Minister Lauterbach must also be aware of this,” said Gerald Gaß, Chairman of the German Hospital Association (DKG). If practically all hospitals have no confidence in the reform’s financing plans, the minister must change course.

Above all, the planned reserve financing is met with great skepticism and even rejection, as hospitals urgently need a concept for financing their running costs regardless of the number of cases. The devastating assessment of the planned reserve financing from practice is “a bad report for the minister and the government”. © EB/aerzteblatt.de