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Germany: Where Are We Going?

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ICU Resource Allocation in the New Millennium

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Abstract

Germany’s health policy, in the past, has tried to limit health expenditures by defining an overall health budget, by installing a DRG-system and by forcing patients to participate directly at health costs by demanding copayments. These measurements were somehow effective in keeping premiums stable but have led to resource allocation at the bedside and therefore on an implicit level. Yet, implicit-level decisions create ethical dilemmas for physicians as they not only have to deliver best medical care but shall also have cost in mind, are unjust because rationing criteria differ from one case to another, and create a general fear of legal uncertainty, in turn leading to defensive medicine with the overuse of inappropriate medical acts. Furthermore, they have no democratic legitimation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurochirurgie, Universitätsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz, Germany

    Thomas Kerz M.D.

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  1. Thomas Kerz M.D.
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Correspondence to Thomas Kerz M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. and Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Departments of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, 15219, Pennsylvania, USA

    David W. Crippen

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Kerz, T. (2013). Germany: Where Are We Going?. In: Crippen, D. (eds) ICU Resource Allocation in the New Millennium. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3866-3_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3866-3_17

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3865-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3866-3

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