Podcast: German Hospital Reform Ushers In A Reimbursement ‘Revolution’

Market access expert explains significance for medtech industry

Germany is introducing a new system of paying for inpatient care, whereby funds will be allocated both to diagnosis related groups and to a provisional pot from which funds will be distributed according to the type of care delivered. In this podcast with Medtech Insight, Gabriel Flemming of Germany Trade & Invest explains what it all means for medtech.

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When Karl Lauterbach was appointed health minister in Germany’s “traffic light” coalition government of the center-left SPD, Liberal FDP and Green Party, he vowed to overhaul the country‘s costly system of inpatient care. Patients were prone to being overtreated and spending too long in the inpatient setting, he said.

In a white paper issued in December 2022, the minster outlined proposed changes to the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) system of flat-rate fees based on performance and activity volumes

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