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Treatment in a German hospital is always something special. Patients have a number of options.
The first decision to take is, which hospital you want to trust your health with. The different types of hospitals in Germany are describd on the page about hospitals.
Once this decision is made (and German Hospital Service will be glad to assist in the process), the next point to know and consider is the status the doctor has and what level of service you want to contract:
- Doctors who offer treatment in hospitals can be self-employed consultants or hospital employed, here again your can be treated by the chairman of the relevant department, or the medical team doctors.
- Self employed physicians work primarily in their private, out-patient practice. This is the basis of their activity. However, if their specialisation calls for hospital treatment aswell, they can have a contract with one or more hospitals, where they will treat in-patients. For this treatment they are medically and legally responsible, and they bill their services accordingly. The services of the hospital are billed separately, the prices are reduced by a certain proportion as the hospital services do not include th doctors�s activity.
- Treatment by the hospital-employed department chairman guarantees the patient the personal service by the chairman or his deputy. This option is often chosen by patients who are not subject to social security insurance, which gives them the status of private patients of the chairman. This means, that here also the chairman presents a bill for his services, on top of the hospital bill. In addition, some chairmen have the possibility to offer out-patient treatment besides their hospital activity.
- Patients who do not opt for this private treatment are treated by the physicians of the department as a team. This of course is also under the supervision of the chairman, but the patient is not entitled to the personal chairman treatment. For this option (which is the standard for social security patients), the hospital prices include the physician�s activities, Only one bill is presented for the whole treatment.
- The second option refers to the standard of accomodation:
- General accomodation standard is in a 3-bed room in most hospitals. Some hospitals have upgraded to a 2-bed standard and do not offer bigger rooms anymore. The accomodation for this general standard is included in the official hospital prices (which are government regulated).
- Special accomodation (2-bed-room or single-bed-room) is offered by most hospitals. Sometimes, special luxury suites are available for special patients. The surcharges for this special accomodation standard vary, they are billed on a per day basis. Frequently the option private treatment is offered together with the special accomodation, but it is not compulsory to combine both options.
Without good knowledge about the hospital where the treatment will take place, it is not advisable to decide on these options. German Hospital Service, again, will be happy to assist you.
One fact: If you know treatment costs in, for example USA, you will be pleasantly surprised. German treatmant costs are substrantially lower!
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