Hospital transformation into regional health care

Abstract

Hospitals in Germany are under enormous pressure. Legal reforms and shortages of nurses and doctors are forcing hospitals to review inpatient services to assess whether they can be provided on an outpatient basis. Legislation is now promoting such transformation processes through changes in hospital planning and financ-ing. Hospitals, thus, have become attractive partners and designers of regional integrated care solutions.
 OptiMedis is currently supporting various hospitals in the planning and conceptualization of regional, inte-grated health care with more centralized inpatient services and increased outpatient care options Smaller hospitals, which are no longer needed for inpatient care after the centralization of inpatient services, can be transitioned towards regional outpatient care. Here, outpatient practices, rehabilitative facilities, therapists, CHN, social workers, case and care managers, among others, can then work together intersectorally under one roof. There are already some concepts and German words describing this: Intersectoral Health Center, Primary Care Center, and Extended Outpatient Care. It is important to determine what needs exist in each region.
 This presentation will describe the different concepts pertaining to the transformation of smaller hospitals into regional outpatient intersectoral health care centers and discuss the implications for further development of integrated healthcare in Germany.