Parameter zur Messung der regionalen Versorgungssituation: Ein Vergleich verschiedener Versorgungsparameter am Beispiel der augenärztlichen Versorgung in der Metropolregion Hamburg

BACKGROUND: Regional ophthalmologic care in Germany is ensured through the guidelines of the Federal Joint Committee’s requirement planning and the adjusted supply rate defined therein. Although the adjusted supply rate is an official instrument for assessing the actual healthcare situation in Germany, earlier studies revealed limitations. Factors such as public transport accessibility or the existence of other healthcare professions are not considered to a sufficient extent, although they have a profound impact on the healthcare situation. The latter in particular have a strong supportive function in regional healthcare. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to critically compare different parameters to evaluate the regional healthcare situation using the example of ophthalmologic care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For this purpose a score was calculated for the districts of the Hamburg metropolitan region based on the exemplary parameters “density of ophthalmologists with orthoptic focus on a district level (offer/100,000 inhabitants)”, “percentage of population with public transport accessibility to next ophthalmologist <30 min on a district level”, “percentage of population with public transport accessibility to next ophthalmologist with orthoptic focus <30 min on a district level” and compared with the results of the adjusted supply rate. RESULTS: While the adjusted supply rate could not identify any case of undersupply in any of the districts, the other included parameters sometimes revealed clear differences in supply. CONCLUSION: The healthcare situation is heterogeneous by consideration of different parameters. This needs to be taken into account when assessing the regional healthcare situation for requirement planning.