Abstracts by key term: Supply gap
Introduction: Interdisciplinary (pain) therapy is recommended as the standard of care for endometriosis. This study examines current care structures and challenges. Methods: An online survey and expert interviews were conducted. Results: 19 experts participated in the online survey, and 9 were additionally interviewed. This provided a schematic overview of typical treatments and billing modalities for inpatient, day-care, and outpatient multimodal pain therapy. Furthermore, significant discrepancies between the treatment standards demanded by the experts and the reality of care were identified. Possible causes identified include a lack of multimodal therapies outside of inpatient treatment, a shortage of skilled workers in various professions involved, the delayed initiation of multimodal pain therapy only when pain has progressed to chronicity, and gaps in care due to non-reimbursable treatments. Conclusion: This study reveals various challenges and gaps in care in multimodal pain therapy for endometriosis. Experts see a need for action in several areas. The exact design of the multimodal therapy should remain individual, but common minimum requirements were made clear.