German Hospitals are well known for high standards of medical and nursing care:

highly qualified physicians, who can practice as specialists in their field only after long and intensive training

professional nurses who really care about the patient's needs

modern medical equipment in the country, where they invent it

Important to know: The quality of service is under continuous government supervision - as is the price system which makes medical treatment in Germany interesting under financial considerations as well. Waiting lists for necessary operations and treatments are, however, not a feature of the German system.

And if you are interested to access special surgery, like cosmetic operations, liposuction, gastric banding, or if you are thinking about getting a thorough or annual check-up to be sure about your health (individuals and/or programs for corporate employees): Germany as your health care provider is always a good choice.

General information on the hospital system in Germany

There are about 2000 acute care hospitals in Germany. They differ by sponsorship and by their service level:

Sponsorship responsibility is assumed by local or state government agencies - 55%, free-non-profit institutions like church federations or the Red Cross - 38%, private for-profit companies and bigger hospital chains - 7%.

As to service level, German state laws mostly provide:

Basic and regular service hospitals - up to 300 beds, 4-5 disciplines

Central service hospitals - usually up to 600 beds with a wide spectrum of medical disciplines

Maximum care hospitals - with usually more than 1000 beds. Mostly, these are university hospitals with comprehensive medical spectrum and the responsibility for research and training as well as hospital treatment.

Medical departments or clinics are usually headed by one, sometimes more than one chairman, who are employed by the hospital. Alternatively, medical responsibility can also be in the hands of one or more practitioners or voucher physicians, who are self employed, running their own private practice and treating patients in hospital on special contract basis.

Financial aspects

The health finance system in Germany makes it attractive for the clinics to service patients from abroad. Thus: German hospitals will do their best to make you feel well and get well. And many hospitals have established special wards for the treatment of patients from abroad. Many other other clinics do not emphasize the hotel aspects, but their medical expertise is by no means less developed.

Hospital treatment in Germany is not really a very costly affair. For regular German patients, the cost of hospital treatment is covered of by the general, compulsory social security health insurance. In some cases, these insurances will also assume the treatment costs for foreign patients.

Patients who are not members of the social security health scheme will generally pay their own bills (getting coverage from their private insurance). The same applies to foreign patients are when they are admitted into a hospital for voluntary (i.e. non-emergency) treatment. In these cases, advance payments are frequently necessary.

For general hospital services, i.e. medical treatment, nursing care and accommodation, a new pricing system has been introduced by federal legislation in the beginning of 2004. A general catalogue of about 850 DRGs (diagnosis related groups) provides fixed prices for all standard hospital treatments, prices which may not differ dramatically between hospitals.

However there are some choices patients can make regarding treatment standards and costs: Chairmen of clinics usually have the license to treat self-paying patients as private patients and invoice their services directly. Thus, these patients receive several bills: One from the hospital and one or more - if other physicians were involved, like the radiologist, the surgeon, the laboratory physician - from the physicians who were medically responsible for the treatment.

Not everybody knows however, that there is no need to contract these more expensive private services: There is no need to opt for private physician care, and the alternative, service by the senior and junior residents like all the regular patients will be no less effective.

Voucher physicians also invoice their services directly, for treatment in their practice as well as in the hospital. In these cases the hospital bill is somewhat reduced as the hospital did not render any physician services.

The second option refers to the hotel standard: Here also there is a choice between regular and special accommodation. German hospitals frequently have the double-bed-room as regular standard some have three beds per room. Special accommodation arrangements in double or single bed rooms will have surcharges, the rates varying around 80.-€ - 100.-€ per night for the single-bed, 50.-€ - 70.-€ for accommodation in the double bed room.

One specialty of the German health system is the well developed rehabilitation sector: Separate and specialized clinics continue the treatment of patients after the acute phase and, with the help of special procedures and facilities, e. g. physical therapy, ensure the best-possible outcome of medical procedures. This follow-up treatment must be booked separately, and costs for a normal stay of about 21 days will vary around 2500.- to 3000.-€.

During the stay in a hospital, the costs of using the telephone, and internet access (which is being offered by more and more hospitals), will be charged separately according to utilization, while TV is usually included in the hospital rates.

Qualification

German medical students have to pass a primarily scientific basic study before they are admitted to the clinical part of their university training. After medical approbation, a specialization phase of 5 to 7 years as assistant or resident physician follows, before the young physician is certified as senior resident for one of the clinical fields. During this time, a clearly defined catalogue of diagnostic or operative procedures must be performed (e. g. a certain number of the most important operations for a surgeon-to-be), and after passing this additional examination, the specialized consultant can either pursue his profession in a hospital, or as self-employed physician in private practice. Training for the nursing profession has a duration of three years. It follows a government-prescribed curriculum, is offered by schools which stand under state supervision and provides theoretical education as well as on the job training. The examination is also state controlled.

Quality management is currently being introduced in all hospitals in Germany following pertinent legislation. In addition, for a number of years, compulsory quality surveillance programmes have been in force for certain frequent hospital procedures, and these data are being evaluated under government supervision. And increasing numbers of German hospitals are establishing different quality management protocols, getting certified under the DIN-ISO, EFQM, KTQ, Procum-Cert or Joint Commission quality management schemes.

Referral Services

The large number of hospitals and the possibility to opt for different standards of treatment and accommodation may seem overwhelming. However, patient referral services are available to foreign doctors and their international patients to help find the best clinic for their patient's specific health condition.

Source: Content provided by German Hospital Service Ltd.

©German Hospital Service Ltd, 2004