ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The choice between outpatient and inpatient care is currently undergoing major changes within the German health care system with the amendment of § 116b SGB V. This study investigates what proportion of hitherto inpatient rheumatologic care could potentially be given on an outpatient basis. METHODS: The analysis is based on administrative inpatient data from 2004 to 2008 covering approximately 23.6 million private health insurance insurants. The selection of patients with rheumatological diseases was based on diagnosis according to ICD-10 of § 116b SGB V. RESULTS: From 2004 to 2008 the number of all rheumatologic cases increased by 13.9%, while the average length of hospital stay decreased from 9.46 days to 8.08 days and the number of attending hospitals declined by 3.1%. The number of rheumatologic cases with a short inpatient stay (≤2 days) increased by 32.3%. We define the ambulatory potential as the proportion of patients with a short length of stay to the total of inpatient rheumatologic cases; this increased from 25.7% to 29.9%. DISCUSSION: Not all patients with a short inpatient stay can be transferred problem-free to ambulatory care. No channeling of patients to specialized centres has taken place thus far in Germany. Quality of care at the hospitals studied has not been considered. Further data are needed to link administrative data with quality care data.
