Financial investors are focusing more on the healthcare sector.
(Photo: DigitalVision/Getty Images)
Berlin There is increasing resistance to investors buying up practices. “We are observing a development that is leading to greater commercialization of patient care,” said the President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, on Thursday. Investments in the medical sector are legitimate. But they should not lead to “the return being the priority instead of patient care”.
In the past year, reports of takeovers of practices by financial investors had accumulated. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach therefore wants to present a draft law in the first quarter of 2023. The SPD politician speaks of “locusts” whose entry into medical practices must be prevented. On the other hand, the proposals caused dismay among operators with a view to the already underfunded health care system in some places.
Behind the move is the concern that the range of services is concentrated on certain, particularly lucrative offers – such as ophthalmology or radiology. In return, according to Reinhardt, there is a risk that time-consuming treatments, for example for chronically ill patients, will be postponed. In addition, doctors employed in medical care centers (MVZ) would report that they had to comply with target agreements for treatments that were not oriented to the patient’s well-being.
However, the warnings are not based on concrete data. There is no information collected about who owns such facilities. It is therefore also not possible to determine whether the care in centers owned by investors is different or worse. The many indications of grievances are reason enough to tackle the problem, said Reinhardt – and refers to a position paper also presented on Thursday with demands on the law planned by Lauterbach.
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Among other things, the German Medical Association demands that in future only interdisciplinary MVZs be approved – and no longer those that focus on one area. For this, the protection of existing rights must be lifted. In addition, the market share of an operator should be limited to ten percent and transparency about the owner should be created.
The FDP is also calling for guidelines for investors
Sibylle Sauch-Eckmann, chairwoman of the Federal Association of Operators of Medical Care Centers (BBMV), criticized this sharply. The undesirable developments in the outpatient area did not depend on the owners or providers. “There’s no demonstrable evidence here to suggest that,” she said. “The regulatory framework must therefore cover all service providers, because the issues are of a structural nature.”
However, even the FDP sees a need for action in the traffic light coalition. It is wrong to fundamentally condemn institutions that are financed by investors, said the health policy spokesman for the FDP, Andrew Ullmann, to the Handelsblatt. “But that doesn’t mean that the operation of MVZs shouldn’t be subject to certain guidelines.”
For example, accounting optimization through cherry picking would have to be prevented, said Ullmann. Likewise, a carrier should not be able to achieve a regionally dominant position. Therefore, the information on ownership and sponsorship should be made transparent, demanded the FDP politician.
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