Minister of Health postpones medical reform

Federal Health Minister Philipp Rösler postpones medical reform

18.02.2011

According to the Federal Minister of Health, Philipp Rösler, the new billing system for physicians will not be binding until the end of the year at the earliest. The new so-called „ambulatory coding guidelines“, which should actually apply since the beginning of the year, are therefore not implemented for the time being.

The Federal Minister of Health Philipp Rösler (FDP) has responded to the criticism of family doctor associations and Kassenenztliche associations (KVen) and decided not initially implement the planned changes in the accounting system of doctors. Due to the adjusted specifications of the „ambulatory coding guidelines“ should be a more accurate and economic settlement of doctors compared to the statutory health insurance.

Reform of the accounting system of medical services
The changes to the accounting system of doctors were last year by the Evaluation Committee, a body in the statutory health insurance (GKV), staffed with representatives of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and the GKV-Spitzenverbandes, and should actually apply from January 2011. However, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds and KBV had agreed on a transitional phase until June 30, 2011, to give physicians sufficient time to switch to the new, more detailed billing system. The new coding guidelines oblige outpatient physicians and therapists to provide health insurance companies with much more precise information on their diagnoses in the future. If many physicians already have difficulty coding, they could simply be overwhelmed, fear the critical medical associations.

Criticism of bureaucracy and privacy concerns
The reform of the billing system should create the conditions to pay doctors and therapists more equitable. The details of their patients' illnesses allow a more accurate analysis of different medical conditions and the adjustment of medical compensation according to the treatment costs, according to the hope of the evaluation committee after the development of the new coding guidelines. However, numerous medical associations expressed critical from the beginning. They feared considerably more bureaucracy and filed concerns about data protection. The critical GP associations and Kassenärztliche associations also doubted that the billing of medical services by the new system is fair. The Federal Minister of Health has now responded to the massive criticism and postponed the introduction of the new coding guidelines until further notice. At the end of the year, the reform of the billing system will enter into force at „time for all involved partners“ to give, „to simplify the application in everyday practice significantly“, so the message of the Federal Ministry of Health.

Coding guidelines for more equitable billing of medical services
The Federal Minister of Health justified the renewed postponement of the new coding guidelines in a letter to the participants also with the fact that the government coalition wants to reform the medical field anyway this year with a supply law. The Federal Ministry of Health, however, continues to support the introduction of the new coding guidelines because they „for a correct and unambiguous diagnosis encryption“ worry, said a spokesman for the Ministry. „This is the basic prerequisite for taking account of the state of health of insured persons in the distribution of funds in statutory health insurance“, the ministry spokesman continues. Even for the doctors, a fair accounting of their services is a stated goal, but the detailed requirements for coding already bring a considerable additional effort in everyday practice. Thus, the criticism of the medical associations on the planned, even more precise specifications for the settlement of illnesses and appropriate medical treatments, even from the point of view of the workload is quite understandable. (Fp)

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Picture: Karin Jähne