German doctors and hospitals protest health spending cuts and digital reforms

The German Medical Association’s annual Ärztetag, opening on 12 May in Hannover, will focus on recent health‑care cost‑cutting legislation. Association chair Wieland Dietrich warned that “the short‑term savings measures hit ambulatory care hard” and criticised a draft digital health law that would require patients to screen their condition through a 30‑question app before seeing a doctor, calling it “absurd and spooky”.

A third survey by the German Hospital Society (DKG) shows the digital maturity of hospitals rising to a score of 55, which Deputy Chair Henriette Neumeyer attributes to the Hospital Future Act’s funding incentives. She cautioned that without reliable operating‑cost financing, the gains may not be sustainable.

At the same time, the Lower Saxony physicians’ association has denounced a new health‑insurance demand for more acute‑care therapy slots as “absurd”, arguing that recent fee cuts make additional services unrealistic. The controversy forms part of broader negotiations over the GKV savings package and proposed reforms to the fee schedule (GOÄ).