- Outpatient-inpatient basic and standard care is a combined care concept comprising portal clinics and medical care centres (MVZs) in which doctors provide care on an outpatient and inpatient basis. In other words, we make doctors a new kind of offer: they now have the option not only of working in the MVZ as employed doctors but also of exchanging their accredited doctor’s licences for an interest in our local basic- and standard-care facilities. In future, basic- and standard-care facilities and MVZs will be regarded as a single medical unit. As co-owners, doctors can assume positions of responsibility in these facilities and have a say in entrepreneurial decisions. This gives them a stake in the facility’s medical success. The common pool of performance and profit strengthens co-operation between the outpatient and inpatient sector – for the benefit of patients and doctors alike.
- Inpatient treatment for severe cases is provided in intermediate- and maximum-care facilities and in the specialised facilities. These facilities also provide telemedical support for outpatient and inpatient basic and standard care.
Figure: Two-tier integrated care concept
Under this concept, the care model follows the patient-oriented flow principle which has been successfully applied at our acute hospitals for many years and is now to be expanded to the outpatient area. The focus of interest in treatment is the patient. The aim is to provide patients with treatment at the correct treatment level depending on their medical needs. Of decisive importance is for patients to be assigned to the correct care unit when their initial diagnosis is made on admission, and to be moved from one care level to the other in the course of the treatment.
For us, doctors are like bridge builders, closing the gap between the sectors. Together with nursing staff, they are closest to patients and they are the most familiar with their needs. Doctors are to be involved in the regional portal clinic/MVZ structures, enabling them to put to work their medical expertise while at the same time assuming economic responsibilities. In this regard it is unquestionable that medical independence is essential and vital when it comes to ensuring good medical care. To explore and take new approaches in socialised healthcare delivery, we are committed to an open dialogue with community-based practitioners and an open alliance with providers. With this in mind we concluded a co-operation agreement with the Association of Physicians Accredited under Statutory Health Insurance (Kassenärztlichen Bundesvereinigung).
We also look to the market as a dynamic force in implementing our care model, since innovation is something vitally necessary when it comes to developing viable care solutions and ensuring good medical care. Such innovation is only possible in an environment in which healthcare providers compete for the best ideas.
