Alarm Raised by Association Head over Imminent 'Stock Depletion' - President issues alert about potential scarcity of essential resources
German Healthcare System Faces Potential Supply Crisis, Warns Medical Association President
Klaus Reinhardt, President of the German Medical Association, has issued a warning about a looming crisis in the country's healthcare system. He cautioned that without immediate reforms to enhance efficiency, the system may confront a supply crisis, jeopardizing patient care. "If we don't act decisively, our healthcare system is on a trajectory towards an supply emergency," Reinhardt told the German Press Agency.
One proposed solution is to improve the management of care by making it standard for patients to register with a general practitioner who would coordinate their treatment. Reinhardt emphasized that current German practices often leave patients responsible for organizing and coordinating their care, particularly impacting vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly, chronically ill, and those with lower health literacy.
At the upcoming German Medical Assembly in Leipzig, the issue of enhancing care efficiency will be a key topic. New Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken (CDU), is expected to attend the meeting, which commences on Tuesday.
Reinhardt expressed that a referral by general practitioners should not function as a gatekeeping or access control mechanism to the system, but rather occur when specialist treatment is necessary or anticipated. In the long term, thedigital-first, outpatient-first, inpatient-later principle should be adopted to support and guide patients on their care journey, involving initial digital assessment and advice, followed by outpatient care, and hospitalization as needed.
Given the aging population and growing medical needs alongside an exodus of specialists due to retirement without adequate replacements, Reinhardt underscored the urgency for action.
Recent government measures to alleviate the crisis include reinstating retired doctors, strengthening rural pharmacies, and accelerating digitalization and telemedicine. Longer-term solutions under consideration involve reshoring production of vital medicines, restructuring hospitals, implementing EU-level critical medicine legislation, supporting the pharmaceutical industry, and modernizing the AMNOG process.
- The policy of requiring patients to register with a general practitioner for coordinated care, as proposed by Klaus Reinhardt, could be a vital step towards addressing the potential supply crisis in the German healthcare system, particularly for vulnerable individuals such as the elderly, chronically ill, and those with lower health literacy.
- As the German healthcare system faces a possible supply crisis, the emphasis on science and medical-conditions education in vocational training programs could prove instrumental in alleviating the exodus of specialists due to retirement and ensuring there are adequate replacements.
- In light of the ongoing crisis in the German healthcare system, policy-and-legislation surrounding health-and-wellness, including the digital-first, outpatient-first, inpatient-later principle, EU-level critical medicine legislation, and the modernization of the AMNOG process, should be a focal point in the general-news and politics discussions during the upcoming German Medical Assembly and beyond.
