German Parliament Moves to Overhaul Overburdened Emergency Care System
The Bundestag is set to pass a comprehensive emergency-care reform aimed at easing overloaded hospital emergency rooms and ambulance services.
Lawmakers are preparing to approve a sweeping reform of Germany's emergency medical system, which has been strained by rising patient numbers and inefficient routing. The draft legislation, moving through the Bundestag, targets tighter integration of contractual emergency doctors, hospital emergency wards, and rescue services, with a goal of launching the changes in 2027. Central measures include building roughly 750 integrated emergency centers that combine hospital and outpatient care, introducing digital triage and video consultations for low-urgency cases, and limiting home visits to situations where other options are unsuitable.
The reform also redesigns ambulance services as a covered health-insurance service and requires standardized patient data transmission to hospitals. Additionally, it calls for a unified digital platform linking the 112 emergency number with the medical on-call service 116 117 to improve call routing.
Why it matters
Improving emergency care coordination could reduce wait times, enhance patient safety, and lower healthcare costs across Germany.
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