Health
Countries are slowing down Lauterbach’s quality atlas for hospitals
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach unsuccessfully warned the Federal Council against slowing down the law. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
It’s about an additional information portal on which you can search for the best hospital if you have to plan major operations. But the federal states have now stopped the project. And now?
The planned state online atlas for patients on the services and treatment quality of clinics in Germany has been stalled for the time being. The Federal Council decided to implement the law passed in the Bundestag by the Health Minister Send Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to the joint mediation committee. The search now begins for a compromise solution.
Lauterbach regretted the decision and made it clear that he was counting on a speedy process. Several countries had criticized the law for forestalling the planned major hospital reform. They complained about interference with their sovereignty in hospital planning.
The chairman of the state health ministers, Manne Lucha (Greens) from Baden-Württemberg, said the intention of the law was correct. The way it is presented does not create more transparency, but rather causes confusion. The law acts as if there were already certain service groups in the clinics, but these were only the core content of the major reform. Bavaria’s Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU) welcomed the call to the mediation committee. It is important that the law is thoroughly revised in key points.
It was planned that from May 2024 onwards, a “transparency directory” would be an interactive portal that would provide understandable information about the respective offerings at 1,700 clinic locations nationwide. It should be clear which clinic offers which services. Data should be available on case numbers, i.e. treatment experience, staffing ratios for specialists and nursing staff, as well as complication rates for selected procedures. The law is intended to accompany a major reform with new regulations on hospital remuneration, which the federal and state governments are currently negotiating.
Lauterbach: Transparency is also ethically required
Lauterbach had still sought approval. The transparency is intended to help people who get cancer in the next year find the right hospital. Transparency is also ethically required. “We have this data, but we don’t use it.” After the vote, the minister spoke of “bad news for patients” and emphasized that the mediation process must be completed quickly. “Transparency has to come.” Lauterbach also referred to proposed regulations for additional liquidity amounting to billions that would go to the clinics with the law. Otherwise, he fears an avoidable hospital death.
Sharp criticism of the states’ actions came from the traffic light coalition in the Bundestag. SPD parliamentary group vice-president Dagmar Schmidt said they were playing with ensuring patient care for political reasons. “This is irresponsible.” Green health expert Janosch Dahmen spoke of a “bitter decision” for patients and hospitals. “We at the federal government will do everything we can to ensure that this law, which is important for people, comes into force as quickly as possible.” FDP specialist politician Lars Lindemann said that the states must be made aware that they have to meet financial obligations to hospitals that have been ignored for a long time.
The German Hospital Association welcomed the temporary stop to the law. This is less about transparency than about depriving the states of sovereignty over hospital planning. In the end, supply in the area suffered as a result. The umbrella association of statutory health insurance companies regretted the state vote, because transparency is a key to greater quality. Union parliamentary group vice-president Sepp Müller (CDU) said that Lauterbach had once again jumped like a tiger and landed as a bed rug. With his indomitability towards the countries, he is putting health care, especially for people in rural areas, at risk.