Around a year after the launch of the therapy reform in Germany, waiting times have increased. While patients are receiving an initial consultation faster, the time between this consultation and starting actual therapy has increased dramatically. Der Spiegel has reported on how the situation is coming to a head. While INSITE has also seen an increase in demand for our Find a Therapist service.
A reform of the guidelines for psychotherapy was initiated in April 2017 with the aim of making it faster and more efficient for patients to get into adequate treatment. We reviewed progress back in September reporting that many of the guidelines still have not been put into practice. These teething difficulties are resulting in patients continuing to face long waiting times.
Long waiting times – high demand for Find a Therapist services
"The situation hasn't improved," says Alexander Ackermann, member of the INSITE Care Management team. "What we are seeing is that throwing these initial consultations into the mix has led to a redistribution of capacities. Every therapist is required to report their consultation hours to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung) so that they can be called upon for initial consultations that can be arranged at relatively short notice. These consultations are a good thing and they are important – and from April 2018 they are mandatory for patients. But it is clear that actual therapy sessions are being sacrificed in order to provide these consultations."
According to "Spiegel" magazine, the German Association of Psychotherapists (Deutsche Psychotherapeutenvereinigung) currently expects patients to be waiting more than three months to start their treatment. In some areas, this waiting time is even longer.
This experience is shared by the INSITE Find a Therapist service. The Find a Therapist service looks for the next available capacities for initial consultations and therapy for its clients' employees, i.e. it takes on the time-consuming job of hunting down a therapist. Demand for this service has sky-rocketed in recent weeks and months. "This is a clear sign that the reform hasn't taken effect yet because its goal was to reduce waiting times for patient," says Alexander Ackermann.
Process for claiming insurance becoming more difficult
If the usual channels are taking too long to identify a suitable provider within a reasonable geographical radius who has available capacity and is licensed as a statutory health insurance therapist, there is always the option of claiming back the costs of therapy against an insurance policy. That's because this opens up the option of seeking treatment with an approved psychotherapist who is not a statutory health insurance therapist. Currently, health insurers are unfairly rejecting this option, creating further irritation for patients. This is another area where we are happy to assist our clients.
Expanding INSITE's care management system
The Find a Therapist service and care management system at INSITE will continue to address these issues so that its clients and their employees are well looked after. We are also expanding our Find a Consultant service in order to reflect the increase in demand from employees and their family members who are looking for suitable paediatricians and other specialists. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions about these services too.
