German Medical Association
Berlin (ots)
Berlin, April 18, 2023 – On May 16, 2023, the 127th German Doctors’ Day begins in Essen. For four days, 250 medical representatives from all over Germany gather in the Ruhr metropolis to set health policy impulses and discuss important professional policy issues.
“After the end of the corona pandemic, the need for sustainable reforms in the healthcare system is more obvious than ever. In view of the large number of ongoing or planned legislative procedures, the range of topics in the general debate on health policy will be particularly broad,” said President of the German Medical Association Dr. Klaus Reinhardt today at a press conference ahead of the Doctors’ Day in Berlin. Among other things, the plans of the federal government for a reorganization of hospital planning and remuneration will be discussed from a medical point of view and your own proposals will be brought into the debate. Reinhardt warned of possible negative effects of the planned reform on the promotion of young doctors. The reason is that the planned new, more detailed hospital planning system with so-called performance groups will mean that some medical training centers will no longer be able to offer the full training period, or will even be completely eliminated. “For this reason, we urgently need cooperation between hospitals with different levels of care as well as nationwide further education associations between clinics and practices for further training to become a specialist,” stressed Reinhardt.
The Doctors’ Day will also deal with the increasing influence of non-specialist financial investors on outpatient care in Germany. “Medical care centers (MVZ) are basically a sensible addition to outpatient care structures. Investments in health care facilities are not bad per se. It becomes critical when private investments are linked exclusively to high return expectations and profits take precedence over patient interests,” Reinhardt clarified. In January, the BÄK had already submitted concrete proposals for statutory regulation of investor-supported MVZs. “We have further specified our positions and arguments against the background of the political debate we have initiated and are in contact with those responsible at federal and state level,” said Reinhardt. Among other things, he called for the funds raised from solidarity contributions for patient care to be protected from being drained into international financial markets. Medical decisions must be safeguarded against false commercial incentives. In addition, the legislature must prevent care offers from being too focused on particularly lucrative, often procedural services.
Reinhardt fundamentally criticized that politicians had not internalized the major challenges facing the healthcare system. “We need concepts as to how, in a society of long life, the financing of our health insurance system can be placed on a broader and thus future-proof basis with a steadily increasing need for treatment. We need answers to the question of how we can use digital applications and artificial intelligence in the sense of doctor-supporting applications really practical and safe for patient care. We must anchor health prevention in the sense of Health in All Policies much more firmly than today in political and social awareness. And we must continue to advance health-related climate protection. Politicians must take these future issues seriously Dialogue with the doctors in Germany. We will demand this very clearly at the Doctors’ Day,” announced Reinhardt.
In addition to these topics, which the Doctors’ Day will discuss in the course of its general debate on health and social policy on Tuesday afternoon (May 16, 2023), two other focal points are on the program on Wednesday. Under the title “Freedom and Responsibility in the Medical Profession”, the Doctors’ Day deals with the understanding of the medical profession as a profession and the challenges that the medical profession is confronted with. Peter Müller, judge of the second senate of the Federal Constitutional Court, will define the legal framework for the debate with his keynote speech “Free medical practice and modern medical self-government as guarantors of patient-friendly health care”.
On Wednesday afternoon, the members of the Doctors’ Day will discuss what contribution the educational, school and vocational school system can make to health education in children, adolescents and young adults. The basis of this discussion will be the presentations by NRW Minister of Education Dorothee Feller and by Prof. Dr. Orkan Okan, an expert in health literacy at the Technical University of Munich.
Elections will take place on Thursday (05/18/2023).
A president, two vice-presidents and two other doctors are elected.
Journalists can follow the opening event as well as the plenary sessions and the press conferences of the Doctors’ Day directly on site or live in the online media center. Journalists have digital access to the applications and decisions of the Doctors’ Day. Press releases, press photos and video interviews can also be accessed in the online media center.
BAEKaktuell tweets about the Medical Day in Essen under the hashtag #daet2023.
Additional Information: www.bundesaerztekammer.de/aerztetag/online-pressezentrum/127-deutscher-aerztetag
Press contact:
German Medical Association
Department of Politics and Communication
Herbert-Lewin-Platz 1
10623 Berlin
Tel. 030-400456700
Fax. 030-400456707
Original content from: German Medical Association, transmitted by news aktuell
