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Political activities
Political activities
The quality of the patient care and the stability of the health insurance reimbursement fees are the main political goals for which the German Association will use all available means.
Assurance of quality
The German Association actively supports the assurance of the service quality, a free market for businesses in the rehabilitation field and the recognition of patient rights. Rigorous quality standards for the specific clinical situation and treatments must be defined in cooperation with hospitals and physicians and updated considering the cost-benefit factors. Basically, the future reimbursement fees must be set according to the desired quality standards for the individual medical care. The indications for the treatment must be compiled based on the clinical picture and the various degrees of disability. The interested parties are the health insurance providers, the representatives of the medical services and most importantly the representatives of the prosthetic and orthotic establishments, which manufacture and deliver the rehabilitation aids to the patients. The BIV is disposed to participate in such reimbursement models which lead to the reduction of costs by avoiding excessive or incorrect medical care.
The German Association promotes all activities performed to achieve quality control and quality assurance for the members:
- Actualisation of the job description, in particular the aspects involving counselling and care of the patients.
- Implementation of the Medical Device Directive and regulations of product liability in the businesses.
- The German Association will take action in a foreseeable future by requesting all its members to comply with the ISO 9001 quality standards.
The German Association demands a reevaluation of the requisites for approval. As an undesired consequence, which results from the narrow thinking in terms of costs of the health system, there has been an exponential growth in the number of unqualified providers in the market. Orhtopaedic devices are presently being offered online or through mail order selling. The prices are unbeatable - products are offered without guidance - which is at best harmless for the patients. Permanent control of the quality of the service and of the suppliers is required to prevent the unlimited growth of providers of prosthetic and orthotic devices and rehabilitation aids.↵
The basis for the future of the health care system’s policies are a free market for qualified providers and the reinforcement of the patient’s rights. The reform of the health care system should not be influenced under any circumstances by the powerfull demands of the health insurance providers. The integration models (insured patients can only select services from a provider who has a contract with the insurance company) must be rejected to prevent the delimitation of the patient’s choice of a physician or a rehabilitation aids supplier. Budgeting should also be rejected to prevent the unnecessary restriction in the quality of medical care.↵
The health care market can not be ignorant to the medical advances and the demographic development. All contracts with the health insurance providers must include a precise description of the service and the price should be regarded as a unit: the health care providers are in urgent need of cost-effective prices.↵
The health insurance providers negotiate like a concern in the health care market. Therefore it is decisive to adhere to the Law against Restraints on Competition and the European Cartel and Competition Law when negotiating with the health insurance providers.↵
