City Clinic Dresden is fighting for a loss of 15 million euros!

City Clinic Dresden is fighting for a loss of 15 million euros!

Dresden, Deutschland - It is no secret that the healthcare industry is currently facing major challenges. The municipal clinic in Dresden is no exception. In 2024, the clinic had to accept a considerable loss of almost 15 million euros, which was even less smaller with 6.5 million euros. The main causes of this financial imbalance are mentioned in the severely increased personnel and material costs as well as exceptionally high tariff financial statements, such as MDR.

The pressure on the clinic management is noticeable. In order to defuse the financial situation, the clinic already planning measures to save. Originally, even higher losses were expected, but the expenditure of around four million euros was reduced by a plus of treatments and targeted cost reductions. With total revenue of 400 million euros in 2024, the responsible persons will give great hope for future savings, in particular through the improvement of digitization and the optimization of medical processes.

The hurdles of digitization

The more depressing is that digitization in German hospitals often stalls. A study by PWC Germany emphasizes that many clinics have difficulty assessing costs for future digitization projects correctly. This applies not only to the shopping budget, but also to the actual operating costs, which are often not sufficiently taken into account in funding applications. This makes it all the more difficult for institutions such as the urban clinic to make the necessary investments, since the planned funding is often only sufficient for the initial investments and not for the ongoing costs, such as the [study of Pwc] (https://www.pwc.de/de/gesundheit- unde-pharma/krankenhaeuser/studie-digitalization-im-krankenhaus.html) shows.

Another obstacle are the unpredictable regulatory requirements and the provider market for digital solutions. This uncertainty can make the forecasts for hospital financing considerably more difficult. In addition, the hospitals are forced to take care of additional work during the implementation, which is why the personnel requirements-especially in the IT area-grow. A shortage of skilled workers in this sector also makes it difficult for the clinics to acquire the required skills.

a step into the future

But there are also bright spots. The well -controlled digitization can not only help to improve the quality of medical care, but also offers new revenue models. The potential for digital business models is available, but the way there requires additional resources and development processes. A holistic digitization that goes beyond a simple "electrification" of analog processes is urgently needed, according to the tenor from various expert discussions. The acute need for action can also be seen in the realization that the added value of digitization is primarily qualitative, but are not easy to market in a time of the scarce coffers and high deficits, such as the information from kma illustrate.

Overall, the municipal clinic in Dresden faces a complex balance between financial challenges and the need to find sustainable solutions. The coming months will show whether it will be possible to get out of the spiral of red numbers and rather to understand digitization as an opportunity as a burden.