German hospital expenditure rises in 2000:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
German hospital expenditure rose by 2.1% during 2000, compared with 1999, figures from the federal department of statistics showed last week. Expenditure for the inpatient sector was DM103.7 billion ($47.9 billion). Personnel costs accounted for 66.3% of overall inpatient expenditure. These rose by 1.4% to DM68.8 billion. Of this DM15.1 billion was spent on doctors' services and DM27 billion on nursing costs. However, the number of placements fell by 1% to 1,114, highlighting the medical device and pharmaceutical industries' concerns about further education within hospitals. Medical supply costs also rose by 3.5% to DM34.1 billion. Almost half this amount - 49.3% - was spent on pharmaceutical goods and surgical dressings. The cost per case increased by 0.6% to DM6,122 and each day of inpatient stay was estimated at DM604, a rise of 3.1%.