[Managed care in Germany: legal and economic aspects of its transferability]

Abstract

This article deals with the transferability of managed care strategies to the German health care system. First of all, a definition of managed care and its characteristic strategies is presented. Secondly, the legal basis as defined by the German social code for the implementation of managed care strategies is examined. Focusing on the ambulatory care sector, possible positive and negative effects of these strategies are assessed. It shows that managed care strategies are not unknown to the German health care system. Especially the 1997 health care reform law increased the opportunities for implementation of managed care strategies on a voluntary basis. However, for a structural reform of the statutory health insurance system based on the principles of managed care, both the legal basis and the sociopolitical acceptance are still lacking.