[The hospital sector in international comparison. An overview]

This article deals with an international comparison of the hospital sector. Its results show that hospitals in Germany are by no means extremely expensive. While Germany is still characterized by a comparatively high level of hospital capacities, these capacities have been reduced noticeably during the last years. In addition, German hospitals are very efficient, because average costs come along with a relatively high number of hospital admissions. Moreover, international comparison shows that most countries still favor public planning of inpatient services and public financing of capital costs as is the case in Germany.