Association criticizes: Outdated services in the ASV service catalogue
28.06.2016 14:03
According to the Federal Association of Outpatient Specialist Medical Care (BV ASV), the most recent changes to the directive on outpatient specialist medical care (ASV) will further complicate the implementation of the ASV. On January 21, 2016, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) made a clear decision that all services in the scope of treatment must be provided by an ASV team.
“In dialogue with doctors, we have found that services are required that are outdated or not even indicated for the disease in question,” said association board member Dr. Axel Munte firmly. “Making such services compulsory makes it more difficult for teams to be admitted to the ASV.”
The G-BA specifies the services that can be billed in the ASV in the so-called scope of treatment in indication-specific details. In January, the ASV guidelines were clarified to the effect that all the services included therein must be offered by the ASV team. The decision has not yet come into force.
According to the Federal Association, the scope of treatment for gastrointestinal tumors and tumors of the abdominal cavity, for example, includes the EBM number 25320. This includes irradiation with a telecobalt device for benign or malignant diseases or, alternatively, irradiation with a linear accelerator for benign diseases. However, telecobalt devices have largely disappeared from therapy in Germany due to disposal problems and poorer physical properties. Since the ASV indication for gastrointestinal tumors only includes malignant changes, a service for benign diseases is not applicable here. The ASV Association learned that the performance of soft beam or orthovoltage therapy (EBM number 25310) does not play a role in the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors.
“The problem is that some extended state committees actually check whether teams offer every single service in the scope of treatment. This leads to great uncertainty among doctors and hospitals interested in ASV and thus further slows down the start of the ASV,” criticizes association vice-president Dr. Wolfgang Abenhardt. “Due to the federal structure of the extended state committees with different procedures, clear and medically sensible regulations from the G-BA are required. This is the only way the implementation of ASV can progress more quickly in the interests of patients,” demanded Munte and Abenhardt.