Hospital.Help

Berlin – After the break in the traffic light government, the chairman of the Hartmannbund spoke out in favor of the Federal Chancellor quickly asking the vote of confidence. Klaus Reinhardt said he hopes that Germany will find its way back to a government capable of acting as quickly as possible, said Klaus Reinhardt today in Berlin at the association’s general meeting. “For this to happen, new elections are probably essential.”

Reinhardt, who is also President of the German Medical Association (BÄK), criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s (SDP) current schedule – with the vote of confidence on January 15, 2025. It could then take until mid/end of May until there is a veritable government again. “I can’t see what argument speaks for proceeding like this.” He advocated that the question of trust should be asked more promptly.

When it comes to legislative proposals in the health policy area, such as the Health Care Strengthening Act (GVSG), Reinhardt assumes that these are now on hold for the time being. With regard to the hospital reform, further developments remain to be seen. If the mediation committee were called upon, the further progress of the law would most likely be stopped in this legislative period, as Reinhardt said.

From the association chairman’s point of view, it would be seen as “not good” if the reform were to fall by the wayside, because hospitals need planning security. You should be able to recognize general conditions and adapt to them.

The Bundestag already passed the hospital reform in mid-October. The Federal Council is currently wrestling with the question of whether there will be a mediation committee. Reinhardt also mentioned the emergency reform, which remains on hold – an issue with a “significant reform backlog” anyway. There is a need for parliamentary action, weeks of hanging games are not needed.

Call for an end to “self-service shopping”

Today’s Annual General Meeting was dedicated to the agenda item “Disorientated through the supply jungle. How much longer can we afford uncontrolled patients?”

On the question of coordinating access to healthcare, Reinhardt said: “The self-service shop that we have been affording in Germany for decades (…) has reached a point where you can say: It can’t go on like this.”

The colleagues are burned out in many places. Coordination is not only a question of avoiding unnecessary visits to the doctor, but also of patient safety. In his own words, Reinhardt deliberately avoided the word “control” of patients because it sounded paternalistic.

In a keynote speech, health economist Leonie Sundmacher from the Technical University of Munich concluded that no control instrument is perfect. All of them have certain disadvantages. When searching, you shouldn’t wait for a supposedly perfect solution, she warned. A gradual introduction of gatekeeping seems possible. Digitalization is a necessary condition for moving forward, but it will not replace structural reform.

The panel then discussed, among other things, ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to address the problem, for example to increase efficiency.

The neuroscientist and professor of artificial intelligence in medicine, Martin Hirsch (Philipps University of Marburg), made it clear that it would have made sense to integrate AI into the electronic patient record (ePA).

Hirsch referred to scenarios in which AI could find indications of rare diseases in data from patient files – and hopes that such a conceivable benefit will also make patients more open to technical solutions. Several of the participants on the podium appealed not to be afraid of digitalization.

Effects of the Trump election expected

From Reinhardt’s perspective, the second major political event of the past week, the election of the Republican Donald Trump as the next President of the United States, has health policy consequences. He outlined the possibility of a trade war between the US and Europe if Trump follows through on his announcement of trade tariffs.

It is to be feared that economic changes will also affect the contribution situation for statutory health insurance and social security systems. He predicts that in the foreseeable future, structural measures that also fall under the “austerity laws” category will be considered with great certainty.

“We as a profession should focus on how we can use efficiency, eloquence and sensible organization in health care to help prevent this society from falling apart,” Reinhardt said.

In addition to the consequences of the Trump election for European security policy, Reinhardt highlighted the Republican’s relationship to climate policy (“disastrous”) as very problematic. Climate policy is also health policy, he emphasized. © ggr/aerzteblatt.de