A week ago, the Federal Hospital Atlas was officially launched online in Berlin. It is the cornerstone of the Hospital Transparency Act, which was initiated by the Federal Government.
The digital Federal Hospital Atlas, which provides information on hospitals and their services in Germany, is operated by the Federal Ministry of Health. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has been driving this project forward since last year with the aim of improving transparency and quality within the German healthcare system.
Aim and purpose of the Federal Hospital Atlas
The Federal Hospital Atlas is primarily aimed at patients who are looking for the best hospital for their specific conditions. According to Minister Lauterbach, most patients do not yet know which hospital is best suited to their treatment, and he considers this situation unacceptable. The Atlas is intended to solve this problem and help patients make informed decisions.
But it is not only patients who are set to benefit from the Atlas. Doctors who refer patients to hospital can also use it to find out about hospitals and the services they offer. Lauterbach is convinced that medical staff will make frequent use of this tool.
Functionality and use of the Atlas
The Federal Hospital Atlas is designed as an interactive search engine. Users can enter a condition, a location or a postcode to find relevant hospitals. The system also recognizes colloquial terms for medical conditions, meaning that even laypeople can use the Atlas. The data is presented graphically, which is intended to make classification easier and enable a direct comparison of up to ten hospitals.
The Atlas currently covers just under 1,700 somatic hospitals in Germany, excluding clinics for psychosomatics and psychiatry. The information displayed includes treatment figures for the respective conditions and departments, the number of nursing staff for the entire site, nurse-to-patient ratios, minimum case volumes, emergency levels and selected certifications. Next year, the Atlas will be expanded to include data on the number of doctors, midwives and registered certificates.
Initial practical test: room for improvement
A brief practical test shows that the Atlas still has considerable room for improvement. The search function for specialist hospitals for a particular condition is too imprecise and leads to incorrect results. The graphical representation also needs improving, as a high case volume is by no means as positive as a high patient-to-nurse ratio. Both are shown as being “in the green zone”. It is also questionable whether the case figures reflect reality.
Whether the new hospital atlas can live up to its claim of significantly advancing quality assurance in hospitals remains to be seen. In any case, the transparency drive announced by Minister Lauterbach is not yet evident at this stage.
After all, no one is born a master. The Leading Medicine Guide has been online since 2007 and has continued to evolve. Here, too, the focus is on the patient and the doctor, both in terms of their expertise and as individuals. On this platform, you can find top-class experts with their specializations, whereby affiliation with a particular hospital can be highlighted, but does not have to be. Experience to date shows that our model is rated positively by both experts and patients.
Outlook
The Federal Hospital Atlas is a significant step toward transparency in the German healthcare system. With further improvements and additions, it could become an important tool for patients and doctors. It remains to be seen how the project develops and what further functions and data will be integrated in the future.
Sources:
https://bundes-klinik-atlas.de/
