1,000 health kiosks are to be built in Germany. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) presented a corresponding legislative initiative on Wednesday when he visited the health kiosk in Hamburg-Billstedt. The health kiosk in the east of Hamburg is the first of its kind in Germany and was created in 2017. It is intended to serve as a contact point for people who need help in finding doctors, clarification and explanation of medical findings. The low-threshold counseling services on health issues are to be set up nationwide in socially disadvantaged regions.
According to Lauterbach, neither wallet nor place of residence should decide on the medical treatment of patients. Even in structurally weak areas, everyone should have the opportunity to receive quick and competent advice on health issues and unbureaucratic help. “Health kiosks can make a decisive difference in this respect,” said the minister.
Among other things, the kiosks are intended to provide patients with medical treatment, advice and support in clarifying health and social issues. In addition, nurses should perform simple routine medical tasks in the kiosks, such as measuring blood pressure and blood sugar, changing bandages or administering injections.
The situation in many other disadvantaged districts in Hamburg and rural regions of Germany is the same as in Billstedt: Only a few doctors settle in the district in the east of Hamburg, where more than every second person has a migration background, every fifth person receives Hartz IV and private patients stop by very rarely. At the same time, people here are ill more often: Chronic illnesses such as diabetes occur in Billstedt almost ten years earlier than the Hamburg average, and life expectancy is also eleven years lower than in wealthy Blankenese, for example.
The contact points are to be initiated by the municipalities, the costs are to be covered by statutory health insurance at 74.5 percent, by private health insurance companies at 5.5 percent and by the municipalities at 20 percent. The aim is to set up one kiosk for every 80,000 people.