On February 20, one of the most important events in the healthcare industry took place in Berlin: #ZKNFT. This first-class solution platform, with around 300 specialist participants and over 50 speakers, represents ~ 1/3 of German hospital beds. Leading players from the healthcare sector, representatives from politics, and experts in the field of digital health came together to discuss ideas for sustainable healthcare. Our Healthcare Finance team was actively involved with Sven Schmidtmann, Peter Maraun and Martin Kretschmer.
Focus of #ZKNFT25: Transformation of the German healthcare system
The event focused on the inevitable transformation of the healthcare system, strategies for successfully implementing change, and the role of hospitals and cross-sector providers in the new world of current hospital reform, a drama in five acts:
Act 1 (end of 2024): The pressure cooker phase, which has lasted for more than 10 years, comes to an end with the introduction of the KHVVG (Hospital Care Improvement Act).
Act 2 (current): Individual hospitals determine their own care role and begin the transformation into that role against the backdrop of hospital reform.
Act 3: Finding the right balance of cooperation in a healthcare region and “stumbling/stumbling” into the respective roles between different outpatient and inpatient players in the regional market area.
Act 4: (Re)evolution towards a networked region and cooperation with patient management.
Act 5 (target vision): Massive process improvements coupled with substantial AI-based productivity gains and the reinvention of the hospital operating model compensate for the shortage of skilled workers and ensure care provision.
Challenges of hospital financing and possible solutions
Another key topic was the financing of the healthcare system and the necessary transformation. Currently, around 80% of hospitals are in the red, compounded by a lack of investment in infrastructure, which is now dilapidated in many places, and alarmingly high liabilities on the hospitals’ balance sheets. For the first time, represented by Peter Maraun, we were able to moderate a panel of experts on the transformation path from the perspective of the (individual) hospital in order to discuss successful approaches for portfolio, strategy, and financing in the new world. In addition to hospital representatives from various operators, Roland Uri (Head of Healthcare DZ Bank) and Enrico Meier (Director of the Social Banking Market Division) were also present to highlight challenges and possible solutions from a banking perspective against the backdrop of increasing requirements, the difficult market environment, and acute financing needs.
The bottom line is that the pressure on individual institutions to transform is increasing significantly, resulting in higher financing requirements. In many places, smoldering legacy issues such as insufficient working capital financing and unfunded equity contributions from investment measures are also weighing heavily. At the same time, regulatory requirements from the perspective of financing partners are also increasing. In this context, targeted financial communication is essential in order to understand banks as long-term partners and involve them in developments at an early stage. The right set of financing documents is crucial for this. At its core is appropriate integrated financial planning, which, in addition to meaningful scenarios, also includes corresponding assumptions in order to not only present the effects on P&L, liquidity, and balance sheet planning, but also to explain them in a comprehensible and transparent manner. In our daily project work, we support inpatient and outpatient service providers in the necessary transformation and the development of a creative financing strategy through to successful implementation.
