Despite the sharp increase in statutory health insurance contributions at the turn of the year, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) assesses his government's actions as cost-reducing. "I am implementing structural reforms and will ensure that contributions no longer increase as a matter of course in the long term," Lauterbach told "Bild am Sonntag". Thus, he is "the most cost-effective health minister for the health insurance funds." The Health Minister also anticipates a halt [...] Health Minister expects no GVK contribution increase in 2026

The new president of the World Medical Association, Dr. Ashok Philip, has called on doctors worldwide to participate more actively in the development of health policy and health system reforms. The goal is to ensure the best possible patient care and protect the professional autonomy of doctors[1]. In his inaugural address at the World Medical Association's General Assembly in Helsinki, Dr. Philip emphasized the need for the medical profession to actively contribute to the further development of healthcare. Even though participation in health policy is time-consuming, it protects patients in the long run[1]. Threat to medical autonomy Dr. Philip, a specialist in internal medicine from Malaysia, warned of increasing threats to the professional autonomy of doctors. These have been exacerbated by rising healthcare costs and increased life expectancy. He defined medical autonomy as "the freedom to make clinical decisions about the care of individual patients" and described it as the most endangered… 

The introduction of the EU regulation on in vitro diagnostics (IVDR) presents laboratory medicine with significant challenges. Here is a background article on the most important aspects: The IVDR (Regulation (EU) 2017/746) came into force on May 26, 2022, replacing the previous IVD Directive 98/79/EC. The aim is to improve patient safety through stricter requirements for in vitro diagnostics (IVD)[1]. New classification and conformity assessment A key change is the introduction of a risk-based classification system with four risk classes (A-D). This means that significantly more products fall into higher risk classes, requiring conformity assessment by a notified body. It is estimated that the proportion of IVDs requiring the involvement of a notified body will increase from the current 10-20% to 80-90%[1]. Shortage of notified bodies A core problem is the acute shortage of notified bodies for the IVDR. Currently, there are only 8 notified bodies notified under the IVDR, compared to 18 under the old directive[1]. This is leading to bottlenecks and delays…