University Hospital Head physician treatment without chief physician

Munich University Hospital: Head physician treatment without chief physician?

30.12.2014

The Munich University Hospital on the right bank of the river Isar was hit in the headlines last year in connection with the organ donation scandal. Now there are new allegations: The hospital is said to have called in surgery reports and the head of surgery, although this was not present. This resulted in higher bills.

Hospital confirms faulty surgical documentation
After the organ donation scandal, there are now new allegations against surgery at the Munich University Hospital on the right bank of the Isar, reports the news agency dpa. A report of the „South German newspaper“ (SZ) According to the chief physician of surgery in surgical reports have been called as a surgeon, although he had not been involved in the procedures. From the side of the hospital it was confirmed that in some cases surgeries were documented incorrectly. „Whether this led to billing errors, we still check“, such a spokeswoman.

Patient guards want to file criminal charges
It is said that the patients and their respective health insurance should be informed of the outcome in early 2015 and, if necessary, receive a repayment. However, it is still unclear to which sums it could go. The „SZ“ had reported that was billed incorrectly. There are no criminal investigations, but the prosecutor investigates the case. A spokesman said „We check that“. Meanwhile, the German Foundation for Patient Protection announced criminal charges on suspicion of commercial billing fraud. Its chairman, Eugen Brysch, said that it „no trivial offense, which happens incidentally or inconspicuously“ would be if it had actually been billed incorrectly, „but usually on purpose“.

Professor was at the same time in Munich and Berlin
According to the SZ, there are several cases in which the professor according to clinical documentation operated on patients, but at the same time held lectures at congresses. For example, on April 26, 2012, he was reported to have treated a wound healing disorder in Munich, removed hemorrhoids, and repaired a fracture of the esophagus, while according to the online program, he ran an event at a surgeon's convention in Berlin. As the surgeon told the newspaper, it was a regrettable mistake that he was mentioned in the reports on these and other procedures as a surgeon.

Complex billing rules
The hospital has been screening surgical reports since April. As a spokeswoman said, the examination was difficult because of very complex billing rules. According to the hospital, the doctor first does not have to expect any consequences. The clinic gave it commissioned legal expertise, according to which the incidents were neither criminal nor labor law relevant.

The reputation of the clinic suffered as part of the organ donation scandal
As the SZ reported, the physician had resumed his post as Head of Surgery only in the summer after he had sued successfully against his termination in the wake of the transplant scandal of early 2013. At that time, a report of the Examination and Supervision Commission (PÜK) of the German Medical Association showed 36 violations in liver transplants. The reputation of the hospital on the right bank of the Isar has suffered significantly during the scandal. In 2010, the hospital was awarded the Bavarian Organ Donation Award by the Bavarian Minister of Health for its outstanding work. (Ad)