Health – Frankfurt am Main – Head of the University Hospital: More reform in the hospital landscape – health
Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – According to the head of the Frankfurt University Hospital, hospitals will have to specialize more in the future – at the expense of accessibility. “It is neither financially feasible nor affordable to have everything available in the same quality everywhere,” said the medical director of Hesse’s largest hospital, Prof. Jürgen Graf.
The state supports the health care system with tens of billions every year, that cannot be the way to go in the long run, the health care system has to be reformed. Graf assumes that three points are necessary: better definition of needs, definition of quality criteria and better use of technical possibilities. With IT-supported systems, the supply can also be made location-independent.
This is particularly necessary for rare services, Graf: “We will have to think about who can offer which specialization in which form and at which location.” For patients, this may mean further avenues, but the quality will be better. In order to be able to carry out rare interventions well and safely, you need several doctors with sufficient knowledge and experience.
Under certain circumstances, this means the end for one or the other “hospital around the corner, which you never go to because when in doubt you go to the specialized center in the next big city – but which you still don’t want to give up under any circumstances”https: //www.sueddeutsche.de/gesundheit/”Keeping property” is one of the major obstacles to reform. These hospitals could continue to operate as medical centers – for follow-up treatment, for example – but would need significantly fewer resources than a fully equipped clinic.
Assuming Graf, there is also a need for reform when it comes to access to medical services: “Whenever we think about how easy access to the health system can be.” The guiding principle must be: “Everyone gets what is necessary – but no more.” According to an OECD study, people in Germany went to the doctor more often than in other countries. Not all of these visits are necessary. “Every supply creates demand.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220527-99-447627/2