Original article

Care situation of swallowing disorders in nursing homes – challenges and needs

Healthy people swallow up to 2,000 times a day without even thinking about it. Aging processes jeopardize the adequacy of swallowing: Swallowing disorders in nursing homes are underdiagnosed, their impact underestimated, yet, along with their complications, they are the most common cause of death there. A closer look reveals a devastating picture of care. This paper outlines the current challenges of data inaccuracy and the lack of diagnostic and therapeutic care against the backdrop of possible innovative forms of care and their implementation in a care pathway yet to be developed.

03.12.2024

The fixed-amount regulation in the AMNOG market – a practical perspective

This article examines the practical implementation of the interface between the price regulation instruments AMNOG and the fixed price in the German pharmaceutical market from 2011 to July 2024. It examines three typical case scenarios of the linking of the price regulation instruments and analyzes the procedural practices of self-administration based on previous application.

03.12.2024

Practice networks in Germany: structure, cooperation and priorities

Practice networks can be defined as regional associations of medical service providers that aim to improve the care of a group of patients receiving shared care. The aim of this survey was to obtain and systematically present information on the organization of practice networks, their cooperation and communication, as well as established initiatives to improve the quality of care.

03.12.2024

Unproven additional benefit due to late changes in the appropriate comparator therapy

As part of the early benefit assessment, new, data-protected drugs are evaluated for their added benefit compared to the appropriate comparator therapy. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) advises the pharmaceutical company (PJ) on the documentation to be submitted and the appropriate comparator therapy upon request. The G-BA can adjust the appropriate comparator therapy determined during a consultation over time. This can also occur after a benefit assessment has begun. This paper presents examples demonstrating how a change in the appropriate comparator therapy during the ongoing benefit assessment process can lead to a usable randomized controlled trial (RCT) not being considered by the G-BA, which in turn results in an unproven added benefit.

03.12.2024

Relief for medical practices and sustainable care

In Germany, more than 16 million people are over 67 years old. By 2040, this number is expected to exceed 20 million. With the increasing proportion of older people in the population, the number of chronically ill, multimorbid, and care-dependent individuals is also rising. The care situation will become particularly acute in rural and structurally weak regions, as […]

03.12.2024

Aerosols: the ignored problem

Comment within the commentary series „Consequences of Corona“ by Dr. Gerhard Scheuch, physicist specializing in aerosol medicine >> A central topic is being criminally neglected in the analysis of the Corona pandemic: the role of aerosols in the transmission of the virus. Aerosol medicine established even before 1990 that even during quiet breathing, minute aerosol particles are released from the bronchi and lungs […]