Health trades do not believe in reducing bureaucracy

According to a survey by the alliance "We provide Germany," to which the Federal Guild Association for Orthopaedic Technology belongs, companies expect more rather than less bureaucracy.

This article is part of the special feature on bureaucratic madness in the skilled trades.

According to a special survey conducted by the " We Supply Germany " alliance, companies anticipate a continued high burden of bureaucracy . The Federal Guild Association for Orthopedic Technology is also a member of the alliance . Compared to last year, they are now even more pessimistic about the future. Over 70 percent of survey participants expect bureaucracy to increase significantly or very significantly in the future; in 2022, this figure was considerably lower at around 50 percent.

Survey: Here you will find a summary of the survey results . The 2022 survey already highlighted the high bureaucratic burden in the provision of assistive devices . At that time, almost 90 percent assumed that bureaucratic obligations would increase even further in the future. This figure has now risen to almost 100 percent . More than two-thirds of companies stated that they have to spend more than 30 percent of their working time on bureaucracy. From the companies' perspective, the main drivers of bureaucracy remain the complex contractual arrangements with health insurance companies (approximately 92 percent) and the documentation requirements for the payers (approximately 86 percent).

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Fundamental reform called for

Reducing Bureaucracy: Read more about the proposals for reducing bureaucracy here . "The already low level of trust among medical supply stores and healthcare professionals in political announcements regarding bureaucracy reduction is dwindling," explain the alliance's general secretaries, Kirsten Abel and Patrick Grunau . "Instead of special-interest policies for individual actors like pharmacies in the Drug Supply Shortage and Healthcare Improvement Act, we finally need fundamental reform and effective measures to free the entire assistive device supply system from the crushing burden of bureaucracy ."

The alliance already presented concrete proposals for reducing bureaucracy at the beginning of the year, such as the introduction of standardized contracts. Furthermore, measures like a uniform VAT rate on medical aids and streamlining documentation requirements could quickly bring relief . "Reducing bureaucracy means more time for patients and lower costs for service providers, payers, and ultimately, those who pay into the system," said Abel and Grunau. "The federal government's announcements must now be followed by concrete action ."

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