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Patient protection request More outpatient care checks
As society ages, so does the number of people in need of care. This is also associated with high costs and therefore a good deal. Especially home care is a big market. Apparently, much is cheated in this area. Patients therefore demand more checks on outpatient care services.
More people need care
With aging society, the number of those in need of care also increases. Home nursing is now a huge market. Unfortunately, the big financial gains also attract scammers. Thus, only a few months ago a loss in the billions by accounting fraud in the care reported. For example, as it was then called, care services systematically discounted services provided by fake care protocols.
Patient advocates call for more checks on outpatient care services. Some of them seem to be trying to circumvent quality checks by blocking access to the MDK's home. (Image: drubig-photo / fotolia.com) Stricter controls required
In the light of these reports, the German Foundation for Patient Protection had demanded stricter controls on residential communities and nursing homes. Although Federal Health Minister Hermann Gröhe (CDU) has in the meantime submitted a draft of an anti-fraud law for outpatient care, the patient advocates are calling for further improvements. This against the background, since care services seem to try to circumvent controls by blocking the access to the patient's home for the medical service of the health insurance (MDK). The German Foundation for Patients' Protection therefore demands once again stricter controls on outpatient care.
Discrepancies in settlements
Foundation Board Eugen Brysch told the German Press Agency: "It is necessary to have a uniform patient number for health and long-term care funds in order to be able to recognize irregularities in billing faster." In addition, a mandatory electronic billing by the nursing services is necessary. In nursing is therefore still far too often billed on paper. "With this new combination, abnormalities could be detected faster," wrote the patient advocates in an earlier communication.
Access to the apartment is locked by the needy
In the "Fundamentals of MDK-quality checks in outpatient care" states: "In the outpatient care, the medical service of the health insurance and the appointed by the national associations of nursing care professionals are entitled to the quality of the services of the care service with the consent of the patient in the Check apartment. "But according to the dpa report outpatient care services apparently try to circumvent quality checks by blocking the MDK access to the patient's home.
No more in the blue determine
It is said that patients are presented with patient declarations in which they should specify whether they want to be controlled by the MDK or not. According to the information, such explanations have so far surfaced in Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. "Uniform patient number and electronic billing are of central importance: both combined make perpetrator profiles visible," said Brysch according to the press agency. In this way, evidence could be collected without having to enter the home of the patient. According to the foundation board, special police teams would then no longer have to investigate the matter. (Ad)