German health minister promises “revolution” for hospitals

Germany’s health minister has promised “a revolution in the system” for health care at a presentation of major reforms on Tuesday.
Karl Lauterbach in Berlin said the goal of the reform was to prioritize good health care over economic factors.
“Medicine will once again be placed at the forefront of therapy rather than following economics,’’ the center-left politician added that German hospitals have “serious problems.’’
The main problem, he said, was the payment of hospitals via flat rates per case, which are paid out “no matter how elaborately the case was treated, no matter where it was treated, whether it was treated well or not so well.’’
Essentially, the more patients a clinic treats, the more revenue it generates. This system was introduced over 20 years ago and was based on an Australian model which aimed to speed up waiting times.
“Thus, with this system, you have a tendency towards cheap medicine,’’ said the minister.
The reforms propose getting rid of the flat rate and instead remunerating clinics according to three new criteria: Preventive services, levels of care and service groups.