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If you suddenly feel a heart palpitation or a stabbing pain on the weekend, many people go straight to the emergency room. They are often overcrowded. How should patients proceed in the future?
Berlin – The reform of emergency care in Germany is set to bring about a number of changes for patients. In the case of acute complaints, the emergency room is the first port of call for many people, especially at weekends or in the evenings. This is usually stressful and a long wait. In future, emergency patients will be better guided through the healthcare jungle. According to the cabinet decision planned for today, the reform will be discussed in parliament by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). What the insured can expect:
Where should you go in case of emergency in the future?
Two new features are being introduced: In acute control centers, patients will receive an initial assessment of how to proceed by calling a nationwide number. They can be reached on 116 117. So-called integrated emergency centers will also be set up nationwide under the direction of hospitals, at some locations also for children and young people. In the emergency centers, the hospital’s emergency room is combined with an emergency service practice.
You fear that you need immediate treatment – what should you do?
There will continue to be several options in the future, but the telephone service is to be greatly expanded. By calling 116 117, an initial assessment should be given in 75 percent of cases within three minutes at the latest, otherwise it should only take a little longer. Patients can be sent to the nearest emergency center by specialists over the phone. If the case turns out to be an emergency, it should be immediately forwarded to 112 so that an ambulance can arrive. Telemedicine doctors can be connected directly to make an assessment. The government expects that telephone advice should prevent unnecessary visits to emergency rooms. The acute control centers will be linked to the appointment service centers: doctor’s visits can then be arranged directly over the phone. Anyone who ends up in the emergency center via 116 117 should be seen there more quickly.
What is special about the emergency centers?
An initial assessment should be made at the reception desk of the integrated emergency centers (INZ): Where should those seeking help go next – the emergency room or a nearby emergency practice? Lauterbach’s stated goal: patients should be treated where it is best and quickest. The INZs should be distributed throughout the country so that at least one is always easily accessible. The opening times of the connected emergency practices: always until 9 p.m. in the evenings – including weekends and public holidays.
What can happen if the case is classified as mild?
The doctor may consider a visit to the practice or clinic to be unnecessary by telephone or video. In such a case, an electronic prescription or electronic sick note should also be able to be issued.
Why the reform?
Emergency rooms and rescue services are often at their limits. According to the Ministry of Health, one in three people in an emergency room would be better off in a doctor’s office. This is also because many people simply do not know what to do if they suddenly need medical help at night or on the weekend. Many end up in the emergency services and ultimately in hospital.
What do the doctors say?
The Association of General Practitioners warned that the reform would fail because there was a lack of the necessary staff and “parallel structures” were to be set up. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) praised positive approaches. However, the KBV doubted that it would be fully feasible due to a lack of staff – for example for the planned expansion of home visits.
Where do health insurance companies see light and shadow?
The health insurance companies praised the proposals – Stefanie Stoff-Ahnis, deputy head of the GKV umbrella association, said: “The emergency law contains many correct starting points for improving the care of our insured people.” The health insurance companies also have a warning for Lauterbach: the associations of statutory health insurance physicians must not be faced with insoluble personnel problems. Stoff-Ahnis welcomed the planned obligation of the associations of statutory health insurance physicians to provide uniform information about doctors’ office hours on the Internet nationwide as a new form of transparency.
What laws does Lauterbach still have in the cabinet?
The ministerial round is to decide on several proposals from the health department this Wednesday. Unlike today, kidney donations should also be possible between two couples in the future. In order to strengthen the prevention of diseases, a new federal agency, the Federal Institute for Prevention and Education in Medicine (BIPAM), is to be launched on January 1, 2025. Parts of the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Center for Health Education are to be merged into it. And in order to drive forward digitalization in the health care system, the existing so-called gematik is to be expanded into a digital agency dpa
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