In the future, an online directory will help patients to find out about the services and quality of clinics. The Federal Council has approved the Hospital Transparency Act. But some countries remain unconvinced.
What treatments does the hospital in my city offer? And how good are the services there anyway? Patients should be able to find out more about this in the future using an online directory. The Federal Council has now approved the Hospital Transparency Act passed by the Bundestag.
In November, the state chamber initially sent the law to the mediation committee with parliament. The federal states had criticized, among other things, additional bureaucratic burdens and excessive federal intervention in state competencies.
The new “transparency directory” is intended to be an interactive portal that provides understandable information about the respective offerings at 1,700 clinics nationwide. Specifically, from May 1st it will probably be possible to see which hospital offers which services.
Clinics should report additional data
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had promised various measures to provide financial support for the clinics. He made it clear to the Federal Council that he believes transparency is urgently needed. About a third of cancer patients are currently not being treated where optimal results could be expected, explained the SPD politician.
Information should be available about which facilities offer which procedures, how often they are carried out there and how many doctors and nurses are on site. Complication rates should also be published – i.e. data on where, for example, an operation goes wrong, how often and what exactly happened. According to the ministry, the information should be clear, generally understandable and updated. The clinics should have to report additional data for the directory.
However, several federal states demanded that the hospital reform must be implemented first and demanded more money for the transition. Otherwise, numerous clinics would be at risk of bankruptcy. The Federal Minister of Health announces that the hospital reform should be decided by the cabinet on April 24th and will come into force in 2025. He also referred to a government protocol statement on hospital financing.
Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) promoted the Hospital Transparency Act as an “important step in the context of greater transparency”.
Criticism from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg
The Bavarian Health Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU) expressed sharp criticism. The law came out of the mediation committee unchanged, meaning “an opportunity was missed.” Bavaria’s attitude has therefore not changed: “We continue to reject the law in the form presented.”
The Baden-Württemberg Health Minister Manfred Lucha (Greens) accused Lauterbach of not including the states. He also criticized the register. For example, it provides for allocations to performance groups that have not even been decided yet.
New Financing options for hospitals
The Hospital Transparency Act also provides for several regulations to strengthen the liquidity of hospitals. Among other things, wage increases should be refinanced by the health insurance companies at an early stage. The law is intended to complement a fundamental reform to reorganize the clinics with changes to financing, which the federal and state governments are currently working on.
Lauterbach held out the prospect of a “transformation fund” for which 50 billion euros are planned for ten years from 2025 – half financed by the health insurance companies and the other half by the states.
There is also criticism of this project from the states: The head of the Thuringian State Chancellery, Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff (Die Linke), justified his state’s abstention from the transparency law by saying that the transformation fund would only come in 2026 and therefore too late. Hoff also criticized the type of financing.
Birthe Soennichsen, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, March 22, 2024 1:16 p.m