The Federal Cabinet approved the reform of emergency care, announced by Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken (CDU). According to the minister on Wednesday in Berlin, this represents the third attempt, and the goal is to establish a foundation for an interconnected, digital, and standardized emergency care system within the current legislative period.
The aim is for citizens to be able to rely on comprehensive emergency services that can provide rapid assistance when necessary. However, the reform acknowledges that not all medical concerns will necessarily require hospitalization. Therefore, the reform is designed as an additional component to better guide individuals seeking help toward the appropriate level of care within the healthcare system. This is expected to alleviate the burden on both emergency departments and ambulance services.
According to Warken, the reform’s objective is to provide emergency care that is “needs-based, of high quality, and economical, organized across sectors while considering regional specificities”. By improving the network of all service providers, digitizing processes, and implementing digital pre-assessment procedures, the reform intends to achieve more targeted patient management and a more appropriate use of emergency facilities.
The proposed regulations include allocating the 116117 telephone number to handle both scheduling and acute dispatch services. Furthermore, it involves establishing digitally connected Integrated Emergency Centers and solidifying medical emergency rescue as a benefit covered by statutory health insurance. Additionally, a specialized committee will be created to ensure uniform national quality and standards for medical emergency rescue.
However, criticism of the plans has already emerged from the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV). In a statement reported by the “Rheinische Post” the board members of the KBV-Andreas Gassen, Stephan Hofmeister, and Sibylle Steiner-stated that the plans are inconsistent. They criticized the government for simultaneously intending to remove over five billion euros from the outpatient sector through its GKV Stabilization Act, while at the same time expanding service promises in its proposed emergency reform to an unmanageable extent.
The board further criticized the draft law for forcing the local physician associations to provide “continuous-meaning 24/7-both telemedicine and outreach care”. Gassen, Hofmeister, and Steiner contended that such multiple structures lack sufficient personnel resources. They added, “It doesn’t help to write it into the law anyway”. They concluded by warning, “What is worse is that politicians are making promises to the public that cannot be kept. When billions are withdrawn from patient care, service restrictions are inevitable”.