Groupe Mutuel calls for hospital planning in overarching healthcare regions
A new study by the University of St. Gallen shows that 25 to 50 percent of patients are already being treated outside the canton and are willing to travel longer distances to receive treatment. On this basis, Groupe Mutuel is calling for holistic care planning in 5 to 7 healthcare regions instead of the current cantonal hospital planning.
Hospitals in Switzerland are facing major challenges: rising costs, loss-making hospitals, a lack of staff and increasing outpatient care. Hospital planning based on cantonal boundaries is slowly reaching its limits. Although the need to address the issue has been recognized by parliament, the federal government and the GDK, concrete proposals and an in-depth examination of the actual situation are still lacking.
Patients focus on quality, not proximity
The University of St. Gallen has analyzed the hospital landscape in Switzerland on behalf of Fondation Groupe Mutuel. It shows that the cantonal planning boundaries have little to do with the actual provision of care for many service groups. In the majority of the regions studied, 25 to 50 percent of the population receive treatment outside the canton. In some regions, such as Mesocco GR, this is 95 percent of cases. This applies to both inpatient primary care treatments and elective procedures.
Patients from outside the canton systematically accept longer distances. They are therefore not guided by the proximity of a hospital, but by its quality, expertise and language, as the study shows. «Intercantonal care is not a niche topic in highly specialized medicine, but the reality for many treatments in primary care. Planning should take these circumstances into account. In addition, the service groups should be revised in terms of urgency and complexity and the planning levels from local to national should be defined based on this,» explains Prof. Dr. Alexander Geissler, Professor of Health Economics, Policy and Management and co-author of the study.
Overlaps in service contracts
A further analysis of hospital capacity utilization shows that there are overlaps in the service mandates of neighbouring cantons. In most cantons, one third to four fifths of the hospitals provide 80 to 90 percent of the treatments in a service group.
«The reality for patients shows that the image of the »care hospital' close to home is outdated. In hospital planning, we need to move away from the self-interest of the cantons and focus on the interests of patients," demands Thomas Boyer, CEO of Groupe Mutuel.
Five to seven regional health regions
Groupe Mutuel is aiming for holistic care planning with a focus on quality. As shown in the study, service groups should be assigned to the appropriate level. In addition to the existing federal and cantonal planning levels, 5 to 7 regional healthcare regions could ensure greater efficiency. In addition, quality indicators in the sense of value-based healthcare and minimum case numbers must be taken into account. At the same time, outpatient community-based care should also be included in the planning.
«We need to move away from hospital planning towards care planning. The study shows that, in addition to highly specialized medicine at federal level, intercantonal healthcare regions are the best way to take real patient flows into account. We also need to include local primary care in the planning process,» says Thomas Boyer.
More information: www.groupemutuel.ch
This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/groupe-mutuel-fordert-spitalplanung-in-uebergreifenden-gesundheitsregionen/
