Chaos at the health ministry? Planned health legislation postponed.

In addition to the hospital reform, which according to Prof. Lauterbach is to become „a revolution" and with which the DRG system is „to be overcome” and for which there is now probably no longer a concrete timetable, this concerns various digital and healthcare laws.

In terms of content, in addition to hospital remuneration, the electronic patient record (ePa) and the opt-out option, the e-prescription, the conversion of the Gematik into a digital agency, data availability for research, the planned health kiosks, health regions, facilitation for the establishment of municipal medical care centers, the reform of the Joint Federal Committee, outpatient psychotherapeutic care and on contractual medical care contracts, direct access to therapeutic providers, regulations on MVZs and legislation on emergency care are affected.

Our comment :

The planned laws affect a very large number of very different topics and areas. Some will be implemented more quickly (DigiG), while others will probably take much longer than Minister Lauterbach envisaged. 

In the case of the planned hospital reform, for example, it is becoming apparent that the elements planned by the government commission will not be helpful in achieving the planned goals, will not achieve their objectives and cannot be implemented. In our estimation, large parts of the reform will have to be rethought and replanned, which will require a significantly changed timeline. Next, we expect the ministry to make a substitute provision with regard to the design of the same-sector reimbursement („Hybrid-DRGs").

What does this mean for the medical industry:

First of all, hospitals continue to be under enormous economic pressure. Delays in all legislative projects mean a lack of planning security for hospitals. This will make itself apparent in the form of a reluctance to invest and an intensification of price discussions.

We believe that it is still right and important for our industry partners to demonstrate and illustrate the clinical and economic values and thus to advise and support hospitals with targeted measures in order to implement innovative technologies in the existing business models. This might include coding brochures and coding information, fact sheets or evidence dossiers with a relevant overview of the clinical evidence, as well as economic analysis and related tools to demonstrate the value of their technology to the hospital's business model.

Healthcare Heads specializes in supporting the medical industry in developing and implementing a reimbursement and market access strategy for the German market.

Contact us to arrange a free initial consultation with our managing director Sven Sauermann.

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