Health
Online directory for clinic quality is to come
In the future, an official online directory will provide information about the equipment and quality of a hospital. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
In the future, before a hospital stay, every layperson should be able to find out about the quality of the facility. And that online in an official place.
Starting next spring, citizens should be able to get an overview of the services, offers and quality of the around 1900 clinics in Germany via a “transparency directory” from the Federal Ministry of Health. This is provided for in a draft law that is currently being voted on within the government. The news portal “The Pioneer” and the editorial network Germany had first reported on it.
The official information is to be made available on the Internet for the first time on April 1, 2024. They should include, among other things, the respective range of services of the clinic, the staffing and quality data. This includes complications and deaths. “The publication of this data not only encourages patients to make their own choices, but also helps to ensure that Hospitals are encouraged to compete for the best possible quality,” says the draft.
A “layman-oriented search and comparisons between institutions” should be made possible. Although there are already various clinic evaluation portals on the Internet, this is an official one. The Institute for Quality Assurance and Transparency in Health Care is to be responsible – a technically independent, scientific institute. This advises the Federal Joint Committee, the highest body of self-administration in the health care system made up of representatives from the medical profession, health insurance companies and hospitals.