German healthcare association rejects government’s planned term guarantee for out-patient specialist appointments
The Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein (KV), a German healthcare association, has rejected the government’s plan to introduce a term guarantee for out-patient specialist appointments. According to the KV’s chairman, Frank Bergmann, the proposed guarantee would not reflect the reality of the healthcare system and would lead to an overloading of hospitals if the in-patient sector were to be opened up.
The plan, outlined in the coalition agreement, would see primary care doctors or the KV’s hotline, 116117, determining the medical need for a specialist appointment and the KV being responsible for arranging the appointment. If the KV is unable to do so, the specialist would be allowed to see the patient in a hospital setting.
While Bergmann welcomed the proposed primary care system, he emphasized that it would not be enough to solve the existing problems in the healthcare system on its own. He called for a package of measures, including better digitalization and a fully funded expansion of the 116117 hotline, which he described as an instrument of general welfare.