Without genuine case independence, hospital reform remains piecemeal: DEKV criticizes insufficient adjustments in the current draft bill
11.08.2025 14:02
The German Evangelical Hospital Association (DEKV) welcomes the aim of the Hospital Reform Adjustment Act (KHAG) to make inpatient care future-proof.
However, the association is critical of the fact that key structural problems remain unresolved – in particular the continued linking of funding to case numbers.
"A sustainable reform will only succeed if hospital budgets are completely decoupled from the volume of services provided," emphasizes Christoph Radbruch, Chairman of the DEKV (German Association of Hospital Physicians and Physicians). The planned postponement of the provisional reimbursement to 2028 falls short. Even in its proposed form, it remains effectively tied to case volumes: 40 percent of the reimbursement is based directly on the services currently provided, while the remaining 60 percent—declared as so-called provisional flat rates—is based on the case volume of previous years.
However, a true transformation of the hospital landscape requires reliable, needs-based, and predictable financing – regardless of case volume. Only in this way can both quality of care and economic viability be ensured.
The DEKV therefore calls for a fundamental revision of the provisional financing in the KHAG in order to meet the reform requirements and to sustainably solve the structural challenges in the hospital sector.