21.09.2020 – 14:08
University of Bonn-Rhein-Sieg
In 2018, around a quarter of a million patients from 182 countries received inpatient or outpatient treatment in Germany and brought the German health system income of around 1.2 billion euros. The number of patients barely changed compared to the previous year, which is mainly due to an increased demand for treatment from the European Union. Almost two thirds of all foreign patients now come from the 26 other member states, most of them from Poland.
In the most important non-EU country markets, the slump in medical treatment trips of recent years has continued unabated. Demand from the Gulf States fell again by 13 percent. The United Arab Emirates recorded the sharpest decline with minus 46 percent. Overall, the demand from the Gulf States (GCC area) has almost halved since 2015. “In 2019/2020 a further decline in the higher double-digit range is already foreseeable,” said Jens Juszczak from the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS). “This is not only due to Corona. As a result of the constant controversy about invoice amounts or commission payments, a systematic change in the market can be seen. Governments are increasingly sending their patients to other countries, and new distribution and care structures are being sought for Germany, for example through sovereign wealth funds or insurance companies. ”Service providers who have previously managed patient flows from Arab countries hardly play a role anymore. More and more clinics are foregoing cooperation with these companies because, on the one hand, the promise of many patients often cannot be kept, and on the other hand, such a business relationship harbors considerable risks in terms of payment for services, data protection or compliance with immigration formalities.
More patients came from the Russian Federation than from all the Gulf states combined, but demand fell by 10 percent overall. In contrast, the visa-free entry of Ukrainian citizens turned out to be positive. Bavaria, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia in particular benefited from the 11 percent increase in Ukrainian patients. Nevertheless, Bavaria (-6%) lost the most foreign patients after Hamburg (-8%). Thuringia (+ 30%), Berlin (+ 13%) and Saxony (+ 11%) gained most of the patients.
View of North Rhine-Westphalia
More than 19,000 foreign patients received inpatient treatment in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2018. This corresponds to an increase of almost 3 percent compared to the previous year. Most frequently, patients from the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland came to North Rhine-Westphalia. The North Rhine-Westphalian clinics had a market share of 64 percent among the Dutch, and 78 percent among Belgian patients. The TOP 5 cities with the most inpatients abroad were Aachen, Krefeld, Essen, Cologne and Bonn. The regions differ significantly in terms of the countries of origin of their patients; The Dutch were treated almost exclusively in Aachen and Krefeld, the Russian patients preferred Essen or Aachen and almost half of all patients from the Gulf States went to a clinic in Bonn. In a long-term perspective, the cities of Münster and Essen performed best. Both were able to double their patient numbers in a period of ten years. “In particular, the close cooperation with neighboring European countries should increasingly become a success factor for North Rhine-Westphalia,” believes Juszczak. “The professional management of the Dutch corona intensive care patients under the leadership of the University Clinic Münster has ensured a positive perception of the efficiency of the NRW clinics abroad even in times of crisis.”
Contact Person:
Jens Juszczak
Tel. 02241/865-120
Email: [email protected]
------------------------------------------- Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences Eva Tritschler Pressesprecherin Grantham-Allee 20 53757 Sankt Augustin (Germany) Tel. +49 2241 865 641 mobil: +49 170 220 71 51 E-Mail: [email protected] https://www.h-brs.de https://www.h-doppelpunkt.de
– .
