[Outsourcing of nursing staff costs in psychiatry? : A secondary data analysis of possible effects on the remuneration system in psychiatry]. / Ausgliederung der Pflegekosten in der Psychiatrie? : Eine Sekundärdatenanalyse möglicher Auswirkungen auf das PEPP-System.

BACKGROUND: Nursing staff were excluded from the German DRG system for somatic hospital treatment and will be funded separately in the future. In psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine, binding personnel requirements have been defined but there has been no regulation of how these personnel requirements are adequately financed. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to analyze the costs of inpatient psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine and to evaluate possible effects of funding nursing staff separately. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This analysis is based on aggregated daily treatment costs of selected hospitals (data year 2018), which annually submit their performance and cost data to the Institute for the Hospital Remuneration System (InEK) for the empirical further development of the remuneration system. RESULTS: Nursing staff represent the largest cost factor in inpatient psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. Excluding nursing staff drastically reduces the variance of psychiatric DRG renumeration and even exceeds its proportion of the total costs. After outsourcing nursing costs, psychiatric DRGs achieve only a very limited cost separation. CONCLUSION: The binding personnel requirements necessitate adequate financing of nursing staff. This raises the debate about the further development of psychiatric remuneration. The question arises as to whether the effort associated with using the psychiatric DRG system justifies its usefulness as an instrument for budgeting when core functions such as cost separation are only given to a limited extent. Alternative approaches to budgeting should also be examined for putting costs and benefits in a better ratio.

[Treatment clusters and personnel assessment in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy - results of a feasibility study of the platform model]. / Behandlungscluster und Personalbemessung in der psychosomatischen Medizin und Psychotherapie ­ Ergebnisse einer Machbarkeitsstudie zum Plattformmodell.

Treatment clusters and personnel assessment in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy - results of a feasibility study of the platform model Objectives: In accordance with the legal requirements of the PsychVVG, it is necessary to develop criteria for inpatient and day-care psychosomatic psychotherapeutic care, which can be used to determine the appropriate staffing for different treatment areas and different care structures. For psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy a model with four treatment clusters was developed, which is oriented on the one hand to the psychotherapeutic intensity and on the other hand to the medical expenditure. Method: In three consecutive rounds with up to 30 experts, representative selected from the three institution types university hospital, departmental psychosomatic medicine and specialized clinic, the minute values per patient required for a treatment according to the guidelines were determined using the Delphi method. Newly developed activity profiles for the six occupational groups were used, which allow the recording of all patient- and setting-related activities. Results: With the results of the feasibility study, an instrument has been developed for the first time to determine the requirements of staffing in psychosomatic medicine. Convergent minute values could be formulated for three of the four treatment clusters. Conclusions: The provision of care in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy is complex, so that a limitation to four treatment areas is only possible if significantly more generous equivalence rules are applied between the professional groups than those laid down in the PPP Directive.

[Diagnosis of Metabolic Risk Factors in Psychiatric Inpatients]. / Diagnostik metabolischer Risikofaktoren bei stationär-psychiatrischen Patienten.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals suffering from mental illness have one to two decades reduced life expectancy. The increased morbidity and mortality is mainly due to cardiometabolic disorders. Despite these numbers, international studies give evidence that diagnoses and treatment of metabolic risk factors in psychiatric patients is insufficient. We assume that in Germany metabolic risk factors are also underdiagnosed and insufficiently treated. METHODS: We tested for the frequency of diagnoses of the metabolic risk factors obesity, nicotine dependence and abuse, disorders of lipid metabolism, hypertension and diabetes in 139 307 cases of residential treatment and semi-residential care in 47 psychiatric hospitals in Germany in the year 2012. Data were derived from the VIPP(indicators of treatment quality in psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine)-project, a project that comprises the routine data of psychiatric hospitals, that are sent to the InEK (institute for the lump sum payment system for hospitals). Frequencies were compared with prevalence of metabolic risk factors in the German population and prevalences of metabolic risk factors found in psychiatric patients in international studies. RESULTS: In particular obesity (2.8 %), disorders of lipid metabolism (2.8 %) and nicotin dependence (4.2 %) were underdiagnosed. We assume that also diabetes (6.8 %) and hypertension (17.7 %) were underdiagnosed. CONCLUSION: The results give evidence that metabolic risk factors are underdiagnosed and possibly insufficiently treated in German psychiatric hospitals. We cannot exclude that the results might also be due to poor documentation. It remains to be seen if the introduction of the PEPP (the new lump sum payment system in German psychiatry) will heighten the level of attention for metabolic risk factors and their treatment.