[Model project of section 275a SGBV for assessing the need for hospital treatment and implementation in...

The structural Health Care Law (GSG) of the Federal Republic of Germany provides in section 275a, Volume V of the Social Legislation Code (SGB), for a model project to assess the necessity of hospital admittances. To facilitate a comparison on a national level it is intended that in each Federal state one hospital from each of the different levels of provision, which are established regionally by each state, should be included in the model project. In Schleswig-Holstein all admissions to the departments of internal medicine and surgery of the participating hospitals-over 2 periods of 3 weeks in both 1994 and 1995-will be examined retrospectively on the basis of the medical records, this examination being carried out by specialist physicians from the Medizinischer Dienst der Krankenversicherung-MDK (Medical Service of the Health Insurance Funds). The data required is presently collected in three parts: The first part includes all the structural and associated data of the catchment area of each particular hospital. The second part collects all relevant data on patients, this data being rendered anonymous and collected using software specially developed by a national team of the MDK. The third part of the examination of data requires a specialist evaluation of the necessity of each recorded hospital admittance to be made by the specialist physician of the MDK. The results of each part are being evaluated by the MDK Schleswig-Holstein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)