Germany hospital sector faces rising outpatient emergency loads

A new hospital report from Barmer reveals that outpatient emergency treatments in German hospitals have increased by an average of 8.7 percent over the last decade. Between 2015 and 2024, the total number of such cases rose from 12.3 million to 12.7 million. The report highlights significant regional disparities: Baden-Württemberg saw 50 percent more outpatient emergency treatments relative to its population than the national average, while Thuringia recorded rates 22 percent below the mean.

Barmer CEO Christoph Straub warned that emergency departments are being overwhelmed by non-urgent cases, which threatens patient care. He criticized recent federal reforms as insufficient because they do not mandate a preliminary medical assessment. Straub is calling for a compulsory telephone consultation system, similar to models used in Denmark, to ensure patients are directed to the appropriate level of care.

In a separate trend, data from the Federal Statistical Office shows that while inpatient hospital treatments in Germany rose by 1.2 percent in 2025 to approximately 17.7 million cases, the average length of stay has decreased to 7.0 days. Despite this slight increase in volume, total hospitalizations remain significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.