Erfurt, October 30, 2024 – The use of emergency services in this country shows considerable regional variations. This is the conclusion reached by an analysis by the BARMER Institute for Health Systems Research (bifg). Around 1.4 million emergency service cases involving personal transport of BARMER insured persons were examined in 2022. According to this, there are 38.6 emergency doctor visits per 1,000 inhabitants in Thuringia, almost twice as many as in Bremen with 19.1 calls. Only in Saxony (with 41.2) were there more. BARMER regional manager Birgit Dziuk sees this as evidence of the need for reform of the emergency structures: “Such strong regional differences in the number of operations prove that the current system is not efficient. There is a need for binding nationwide standards and significantly more efficient structures and processes. A reform of the rescue service is overdue.” In addition, the BARMER analysis also shows differences in operational costs. An emergency medical intervention with an ambulance costs an average of 660 euros in Berlin, followed by Thuringia with 720 euros and at the other end of the scale in Schleswig-Holstein 1,530 euros.
Strong regional differences are evidence of a need for reform
The differences can only be explained by a number of reasons, some of which can also be found in the different design of the state emergency service laws. According to Dziuk, a major problem is that the emergency services respond too often to minor cases because standardized initial assessment procedures do not work everywhere. “The emergency services could be massively relieved if minor cases were referred directly to outpatient care. By far not every supposed emergency is actually one that needs to be transported to the clinic by ambulance,” says BARMER country director Dziuk. In addition, in Thuringia we have to keep the big picture in mind, emphasizes the BARMER regional head: “In view of the impending hospital reform in Thuringia, we see it as indispensable to adapt the emergency service to the new structures. If we have more centers, more specialization and cooperation between clinics, we also need an emergency service in an overall emergency rescue system that can work with support and coordination – especially in rural regions. The overall system, which today includes the rescue service, the hospital emergency rooms and the sitting and driving service of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, would benefit from the state’s care planning.
Too few people provide first aid
Another problem is that in Germany too few people provide first aid in the event of a cardiac arrest. In 2022, the layperson resuscitation rate was a good 51 percent. In the Netherlands around 70 percent and in Sweden even 80 percent of laypeople would start with chest compressions. “We need a nationwide obligation to provide telephone support for resuscitation from the control centers,” says Birgit Dziuk. Apps should also be used that can be used to alert professional first responders who are nearby in an emergency. Such a first responder app for alerting first responders is already in use in several federal states, but there are still reservations in Thuringia. “We could save human lives through all of these measures. But as is so often the case in healthcare, we don’t have a knowledge problem, but rather a lack of action,” says Dziuk.
Source: BARMER
Health
| Thuringia
| Press release
C. Schulz
Advertisement
