Germany debates emergency care reform to relieve hospitals

The German Bundestag is voting on a major emergency care reform aimed at relieving pressure on hospital emergency departments. A central component of the plan is the establishment of over 700 integrated emergency centers (INZ) at hospitals. These centers would serve to triage patients, determining whether they require urgent hospital care or can be treated in outpatient emergency practices.

To support this, the patient service number 116117 is intended to be expanded into an acute coordination center for initial assessments. Current guidelines advise calling 112 for life-threatening situations—such as unconsciousness, breathing difficulties, or severe bleeding—while 116117 remains the contact for urgent but non-life-threatening medical needs.

The reform has met with mixed reactions. The Berliner Krankenhausgesellschaft (BKG) supports the goal of better patient steering but notes that Berlin may require up to 20 centers due to population density. Conversely, the Bundesärztekammer has criticized the reform, arguing that it introduces excessive bureaucracy, increases administrative burdens through new reporting requirements, and fails to address underlying issues of personnel shortages and financing.