Innovation & Digitalisierung

Pressure on small hospitals is growing – many primary and standard care facilities are facing closure. At the same time, demand for local medical care remains high, as demonstrated by the increasing protests against hospital closures. Cross-sector care facilities (süV) are intended to create new prospects in this area. Telemedicine collaborations that digitally connect smaller locations to larger hospitals are crucial to their success. They ensure quality, cost-effectiveness, and security of care—provided that the necessary infrastructure is consistently developed.

süV: A reform component with many question marks

Integrated care centers are an important component of hospital reform. They are intended to ensure local healthcare provision in areas where traditional structures are no longer viable. They are created by converting existing hospitals and take on a limited range of inpatient services, which are supplemented by outpatient services and cross-sector cooperation. Emergency care, on the other hand, is explicitly excluded, which limits the actual role of these facilities in the regional healthcare landscape.

It remains unclear which specific services must be provided on a mandatory basis. There are also no clear guidelines on which other inpatient services may be provided through telemedicine cooperation. These are to be bindingly defined by the German Hospital Association and the health insurance companies by the end of 2025. The remuneration modalities have also not yet been finalized.

In summary, süV could be an important instrument for securing care across the board. At the same time, however, there are just as many unanswered questions as there are opportunities.

No süV without telemedicine cooperation

The integration of outpatient and inpatient care can only succeed through the digital and cooperative networking of all those involved in care. A key element here is telemedicine cooperation between hospital locations. Its importance is demonstrated not least by its firm anchoring in the Social Security Code.

Telemedicine collaborations create opportunities on three levels: they ensure local care, they increase the quality of treatment, and they enable the efficient operation of hospitals.

• Making specialist knowledge available locally: Telemedicine collaborations ensure local care, maintain quality standards, and expand the range of services available—especially in rural areas.
• Treatment quality through digital connectivity: Telemedicine networking enables real-time access to specialist knowledge and case conferences, while digital visits and teleconsultations ensure high-quality treatment even during off-peak hours.
• Resource efficiency in operation: Telemedicine-supported on-call services replace on-site services, avoid unnecessary transfers, and relieve the burden on specialists; at the same time, the need for specialized expertise, e.g., in the area of diagnostics and findings, is reduced.

No telemedicine cooperation without infrastructure

Without a reliable digital infrastructure, telemedicine cannot reach its full potential. Although studies show that doctors, patients, and relatives are open to telemedicine concepts, in practice, implementation often fails due to complicated processes, incompatible applications, and a lack of standardization. This results in media breaks, duplication of work, and loss of information, exacerbated by outdated technology or low bandwidths.

" For telemedicine collaborations to succeed, high-performance, secure, and interoperable systems are needed that seamlessly connect existing applications, simplify processes, and are modularly expandable. Security and data protection must be considered from the outset".

Summary and outlook

Telemedicine cooperation is more than just the digital networking of locations—it is a central component of sustainable healthcare.

Hospital reform opens up concrete opportunities here: the transformation fund promotes both the conversion of locations into integrated care centers and the development of efficient digital structures. Investments in interoperable and secure IT and communication systems that enable smooth collaboration are particularly eligible for funding.

For hospital managers, this means that anyone developing a location into a smart hospital must integrate telemedicine into their funding strategy at an early stage. It is important to enter into discussions with outpatient and inpatient partners before submitting an application. This avoids different standards and isolated solutions and creates common platforms that enable sustainable, secure, and interoperable cooperation.