Rector calls for reform in the healthcare system: uniform planning for Eastern Austria!

Rector calls for reform in the healthcare system: uniform planning for Eastern Austria!

Markus Müller, the rector of the Medical University of Vienna, today spoke out in favor of uniform health planning in the eastern region of Austria. Loud vienna.at Müller sees this step as an originally important approach to achieving uniform financing in the healthcare system. Despite the existing discussions about joint health planning, which so far only exists on paper, implementation remains a major challenge.

Müller actively supports the proposal from Karoline Edtstadler, the governor of Salzburg, to shift the health agenda to the federal government. This idea aims to organize and centralize healthcare responsibility more efficiently. Müller emphasizes the need to maintain the discussion about health care reform and not let it stall.

Challenges in the healthcare system

A central topic in the current debate is the existing tensions between the federal states of Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland regarding the treatment of guest patients. Müller points out that such conflicts only further reinforce the need to address structural changes in the healthcare system.

In order to improve health care, the Rector makes it clear that it is crucial to make Austria's workplace more attractive for young doctors. At the same time, however, he believes that increasing the number of trained doctors is “not expedient”.

Austrian structural plan for health

There are national and regional planning instruments to meet the challenges in the healthcare system. The Austrian Health Structural Plan (ÖSG), which was approved by both the federal government and the states and social insurance providers, forms an important framework for this. How socialminister.gv.at reports, the ÖSG aims to achieve the same standards of care throughout Austria and to make health care easily accessible. The plan contains specific statements on outpatient and acute inpatient care as well as on rehabilitation and large-scale medical-technical equipment.

The last version of the ÖSG, which was decided in December 2023, refers to planning until 2030 and is a “living product” that is continuously being developed. It includes updated planning guidelines and quality criteria and is divided into three main chapters: Planning, Quality Criteria and Large Equipment Plan. In addition, the ÖSG describes how highly specialized services should be bundled at suitable hospital locations.

Amid these developments, the question remains as to how the healthcare system in Austria can be made more efficient in order to meet increasing demands and ensure a high quality of care for all citizens.