German Doctors’ Day
Medical President calls for more comprehensive health protection
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (l) and President of the Medical Association Klaus Reinhardt at the German Medical Association in Essen. photo
© Henning Kaiser/dpa
At the Doctors’ Day, physicians debate reforms in the healthcare system with one another and with Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach. Medical President Reinhardt calls for broad health protection.
Medical President Klaus Reinhardt has called for more comprehensive health protection for the population in view of the aging society and climate change. Urban planning, consumer protection and agricultural, labor and social policy would also have to get involved, said the head of the German Medical Association at the opening of the German Doctors’ Day in Essen.
Medical tasks also included health-related climate and heat protection, the commitment to clean air and against chemicals in everyday products that are hazardous to health.
Reinhardt referred to the declining involvement of many people in sports clubs and other social institutions. Older people in particular can experience ill-healthy loneliness. The care of refugees from a wide variety of crisis areas, often with psychological stress, must be organized in a stable manner. Action plans are needed to counter the effects of heat waves in particular on older and sick people. The shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare system must be countered with innovative ideas. “We can only master these tasks if everyone involved makes a concerted effort.”
Reinhardt demands reliability in digitization
Reinhardt called for more reliability in digitization in the healthcare sector. “Doctors are of good will and open to digital applications,” said the head of the German Medical Association. However, many are still frustrated because the technology is not stable. “Politics and industry should be clear that medical practices and clinics are not test laboratories for immature technology,” said Reinhardt.
With a view to the restart with electronic patient files for all insured persons, the Medical President warned to ensure patients’ trust in the responsible handling of their data. This presupposes simple objections. The federal government plans that all those with statutory health insurance will automatically receive an e-file by the end of 2024 – unless you actively refuse to do so. So far, you have to actively consent if you want one.
Criticism of Health Minister Lauterbach
Reinhardt called for a fundamental financial stabilization of the statutory health insurance. Among other things, parts of the consumption taxes on tobacco and alcohol could also be used as earmarked health levies. In addition, the VAT for pharmaceuticals should be reduced from 19 percent to 7 percent.
Reinhardt accused Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) of not involving health stakeholders in political projects, such as the reorganization of clinics. It is a mistake to discredit the commitment of your own medical colleagues as lobbying. Reinhardt also criticized the way the practices of the resident doctors were treated. Instead of acknowledging their commitment with a bonus for medical assistants, the red pen is applied. “Strengthen the practices,” he demanded.
NRW health minister believes in compromise in hospital reform
In the dispute between the federal and state governments about the planned hospital reform, NRW Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) is counting on both sides being willing to compromise. It is crucial that in the end “the quality and accessibility of the health system in all regions” is ensured, said Laumann in Essen. The reform must be measured against this. “We will not make any ideological decisions,” he stressed.
Addressing the Federal Minister of Health, who was in Essen, Laumann said: “I think we both have a responsibility that the hospitals can then deal with what we’re doing there.” That is why it is now a question of “reasonably merging” a hospital reform that has been in preparation in North Rhine-Westphalia for years with the plans of the Federal Ministry of Health. “If it were easy, then everyone could do it – then neither of us would have to do it.”
In the dispute, the Federal Minister of Health initially warned his NRW counterparts against going through the hospital reform that had already been initiated in NRW on their own. Most recently, however, both sides had already approached each other.
During the four-day Doctors’ Day, the 250 delegates also re-elect the leadership of the German Medical Association. President Reinhardt (62), who has been in office since 2019, is up again. The chairwoman of the Marburg Association of Doctors, Susanne Johna (57), is running against him. She would be the first woman to head the German Medical Association, which represents the interests of 550,000 doctors in Germany. The elections are scheduled for this Thursday.