Germany

Why Germany for Medical Tourism?

Germany is leading and showcasing more advanced results in the treatment of cancer, blood disorders and diseases of the cardiovascular system, transplantations, infertility, and epileptic disorders. In addition, their hospitals use more organic pharmacies and medicine.

Most university hospitals are in the ownership of States, while municipalities have a big role in public health activities and own approximately half of the hospital beds. The country has around 2000 hospitals, which treat approximately 18.5 million patients each year.

Germany is not the cheapest medical destination, but the overall cost of medical treatment in Germany is significantly lower than in many other countries such as the U.S.A.

Almost all German hospitals are equipped with high-tech imaging technology such as 3D ultrasound and MRI, and a lot of specialized clinics have state-of-the-art equipment to assure patients with the most modern treatments. Some of the technology you can find in Germany are surgical robots, heart catheters and targeted radiation therapies for oncology treatments.
Plus, Germany has rigid laws to protect patient safety. These include strict hygiene in all German hospitals, transparent treatments, and good follow-up care.

Hospital Accreditation in Germany

The quality management in general and the accreditation of hospitals, in particular, is one of the most important aspects of German medical care. To assure the highest quality of the services, Germany has made several improvements and changes that led to the significant development of its healthcare.

The most important factors being:

• Introducing diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) which increased the transparency of hospitals and their services.
• Reorienting to a quality-driven market which led to better services and care for patients and made hospitals to be more vocal and aware of their actions.
• Article 135a of the German Social Act demands medical institutions to “ensure and further develop the quality of their services”, and to “introduce and develop quality management in their institutions”.
• Hospitals are also required to bring data about clinical “performance areas” to the Federal Bureau for Quality Assurance (BQS) that analyses all the activities and achievements and publishes an annual report.

Approximately one-third of hospitals in Germany have gone through organization-wide accreditation. More than 630 clinics chose the national accreditation system KTQ, which was made with the support of many accreditation systems worldwide and has the backing of all major stakeholders of the German healthcare system.

Also, the Joint Commission International has accredited two major hospitals in Germany.