More transparency about patient rights in Germany: Information brochure provides an overview of the important regulations
08.07.2013 13:08
Three months after the Patient Rights Act came into force, the Federal Minister of Health Daniel Bahr, together with the Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and the Federal Government's Patient Representative Wolfgang Zöller, today presented a comprehensive information brochure for citizens. The guide offers an understandable presentation and explanation of the rights of patients.
A BAG Self-Help event on the subject of patient rights also took place today at the Federal Ministry of Health. Federal Minister of Health Daniel Bahr and Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger opened the event. Wolfgang Zöller, the Federal Government's patient representative, then discussed the upcoming implementation of the Patient Rights Act with representatives of self-help, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and representatives of the umbrella association of statutory health insurance companies. All three emphasized the high priority of patient rights in Germany.
Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said: “It is important that patients are well informed and know their rights when visiting a doctor. Through the Patient Rights Act, we have anchored their rights in law and thereby strengthened them. This allows them to have a responsible say in the treatment process and, together with the doctor, make the right decisions for them. This guide clearly summarizes everything that patients need to know about medical treatment. We want to do everything we can to ensure that patients can take their rights into their own hands.”
Federal Health Minister Daniel Bahr said: “We want patients not only to have more rights, but also to know them and be able to demand them in specific cases. What good is freedom of choice and the right to complain if no one knows about them? Studies show that three out of five patients do not know their rights or only know them incompletely. With the Patient Rights Act, we have succeeded, on the one hand, in legally establishing and strengthening these rights and, on the other hand, in informing the population about them with the help of this brochure. Today’s BAG Self Help event also contributes to achieving these goals.”
The Federal Government's patient representative Wolfgang Zöller explained: “Patients and insured persons often feel like supplicants, also because they do not know their rights at all or only incompletely. The Patient Rights Act has therefore not only strengthened the rights of patients and enshrined them in context for the first time, but it has also given me the legal mandate to inform citizens about their rights in an understandable form. I am fulfilling this mission with the “Guide for Patients” brochure presented today. This means that the existing rights can be read by everyone and in understandable language, which was particularly important to me. Knowledge about these regulations will make a decisive contribution to ensuring that patients can better enforce their rights in the future.”
With the Patient Rights Act, which came into force on February 26th this year, these rights were enshrined and strengthened in law for the first time. The main concern was to make the legal situation more transparent and better known for patients in order to ensure better implementation and observance of patient rights in everyday care.
You can find the brochure in the appendix.