An exclusive roundtable hosted by Johnson & Johnson during this year’s Hauptstadtkongress debated the question whether the current healthcare system in Germany should compromise between the need to standardize treatments due to scarce resources and increasingly informed patients demanding the best treatment possible. Although panelists agreed that Germany may be leading in terms of standards of treatment when compared with similar sized systems across Europe the group felt there was still room for improvement.
Rolf Koschorek, member of the German Parliament, made the point that the uptake of innovations could be faster. This would help ensure patient access to the best treatment possible. Professor Carsten Perka of renowned university hospital Charité made clear that price is currently the decision-making driver in hospitals. Perka believes that price of products is not the main thing that hospitals and healthcare systems should be concerned about. As long as physicians continue to be measured based on cost per patient treatment (and product) other crucial aspects that might ultimately benefit the patient such as physician training will fall short. A shame, really, isn’t it?
Mark Grossien