The new DGRh memorandum

Current figures on rheumatological care

A new memorandum on the care of patients with rheumatic diseases has just been published from the German Society for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology (DGRh), which provides the basis for recognising the increasing need for care, identifying existing care deficits and discussing new solutions. Dr Albrecht and Dr Callhoff from the Health Services  Research  Group at the German Rheumatology Research Center (DRFZ) have made a significant contribution to the memorandum by providing current figures on outpatient and inpatient rheumatological care. Rising patient numbers, the imminent retirement of many rheumatologists and more frequent part-time work pose new challenges for the care of patients with rheumatic diseases. In the outpatient sector alone, there is already a shortage of around 700 rheumatologists. The waiting time for a first appointment in a rheumatology practice or hospital outpatient clinic often exceeds three months. As a result, the DGRh’s goal of ensuring treatment within six weeks of the onset of symptoms is clearly not being met. This and much more information is available in the new memorandum, which was published online by the Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie in August 2024.

‘The memorandum is a very important piece of work for rheumatological needs planning,’ emphasises the head of the Epidemiology and Health Services Research programme area at the DRFZ, Prof. Dr Anja Strangfeld: ’The contribution of health services research is invaluable in this regard. Fortunately, rheumatology has been very well positioned in this research field for many years with numerous studies involving rheumatology centres throughout Germany, which are helping to identify gaps in care and evaluate proposed solutions for improved patient care. The excellent cooperation between clinically active rheumatologists and researchers forms the basis for us being able to provide very good key figures for care planning.’

The memorandum was drawn up under the leadership of the DGRh with Berufsverband Deutscher Rheumatologen (BDRh), the Verband Rheumatologischer Akutkliniken (VRA), the Deutsche Rheuma-Liga (DRL)  and the DRFZ.