States demand more money for hospitals

Health officials from Austria’s states are demanding more funding for hospitals as part of the country’s health reform, ORF reported after their conference in Bregenz on Friday. The states are willing to take on more responsibility, but say the existing system must be adequately funded before new structures are created.

The states and municipalities are currently covering the growing hospital deficits alone, the officials said. Those shortfalls are increasing by as much as one billion euros a year. Vorarlberg’s Martina Rüscher, who chairs the conference, said negotiations on the reform were under way and that the states were contributing to the process.

Rüscher said the reform should ensure round-the-clock access to primary care. Expanding the 1450 health advice service is one important part of that effort, she said, alongside clear pathways for directing patients to care. The states are in talks with social insurance providers about their role in the service.

The states are also prepared to take on more responsibility for specialist care, but say this depends on receiving substantially more hospital funding than has so far been offered. Hospitals currently fill gaps in round-the-clock care at night and on weekends. The states want to begin joint planning with the federal government, but oppose delaying implementation in stages while leaving funding decisions until the next fiscal equalisation agreement.

Vienna city councillor Peter Hacker said the states would not wait for the next such agreement and expected a fair funding arrangement from the federal government. He said the states had already expanded the 1450 service, but still paid for it alone. Teleconsultations are available in every state, though their level of development varies.

Styria’s health councillor Karlheinz Kornhäusl called for faster digitalisation, including of ELGA, Austria’s electronic health record, and the parent-child health record. He also said the social insurance prevention programme had not been expanded since 2005. About 15 percent of the population use prevention programmes, he said, adding that this should increase. The states also want consistent care standards for post-acute infection syndromes, including ME/CFS, where services are lacking in many places.

The officials called on the federal government to introduce a new epidemic law, establish a unified vaccination system and set clear procedures for highly infectious diseases such as Ebola. They are also awaiting decisions on emergency stocks of medical supplies and a cooling-tower register intended to help identify infection sources more quickly during a Legionella outbreak. All nine states attended the two-day conference, which covered 32 points.