Abstracts by key term: Eye surgery
The realignment of care structures to optimize health care across the various service sectors is one of the most important health policy challenges for several decades. Even though medical care in Germany is still characterized by good accessibility and a high level of quality, the frequently discussed challenges in care - keywords include demographic development, multimorbidity, a shortage of doctors and skyrocketing costs - are increasingly threatening to ensure this level of care. Assuming that supply needs can no longer be adequately met in terms of quality and logistics via traditional forms of organization, the structures as a whole must be put to the test and, if necessary, redesigned. In the last ten years in particular, lawmakers have increasingly implemented a variety of laws and reforms to strengthen intersectoral cooperation. With the GKV Health Reform Act in 2000, integrated care was incorporated into German legislation for the first time and reformulated with the GKV Modernization Act of 2004. This formed the basis for selective contractual relationships between health insurance companies and service providers and was instrumental in the increasing importance of cross-sector forms of care. The most recent health care reform as part of the Care Structure Act (VstG), which came into force in January 2012, does not create a breakthrough for cross-sector care models, but it does set certain prerequisites for better interlinking of the service sectors. With the change in § 87 b SGB V, the importance of doctor networks in particular is experiencing a new dynamic. Doctors are significantly more motivated to participate in cooperative models through the possibility of separate remuneration regulations and fee volumes for networked practices.