Health
Federal Council puts the brakes on Lauterbach’s transparency law for clinics
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach unsuccessfully warned the Federal Council against slowing down the law. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
For the time being, nothing will come of a central component of Lauterbach’s reform package. Lengthy negotiations in the mediation committee now lie ahead.
The chairman of the health minister, Manne Lucha (Greens) from Baden-Württemberg, said the intention was correct. The way the law is presented does not create more transparency, but rather causes confusion. Several states also criticized interference with their sovereignty over hospital planning and called for additional financial aid from the federal government.
This is in the draft law
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) warned the Bundesrat against slowing down the law and sought approval. The transparency is intended to help people who will develop cancer in the next year find the right hospital. This transparency is also ethically necessary. “We have this data, but we don’t use it.”
The law stipulates that from May 2024 onwards, a “transparency directory” should provide understandable information as an interactive portal 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.