Ambulante Krebsberatungsstellen (KBS) in Deutschland – Versorgungsauftrag, Leistungsspektrum, Finanzierung

Outpatient cancer psychosocial counseling centers (cancer support centers or CSCs) constitute a crucial component of psychooncological care in Germany. They provide patients and their relatives with free needs-based social law and psychological counseling throughout all phases of illness. With a growing number of cancer survivors, their significance continues to increase.

This review article addresses the service mandate of CSCs in Germany, with a focus on elucidating their structural characteristics, range of services, and funding.

This is a review article based on a literature search regarding the current state of outpatient cancer counseling.

The scope of services provided by CSCs is multifaceted and includes specific core services as well as location-specific expanded service offerings. Core services primarily encompass psychosocial counseling with a focus on psychological and social aspects. Around one in three patients makes use of CSC services. Approximately 70% of the clientele comprise cancer patients, the remaining 30% are family members/individuals close to the patients. Utilization of services is dependent on individual characteristics of those seeking advice (e.g., age, gender, education, information status) as well as structural factors (e.g., accessibility of CSCs). With the reimbursement of 80% of CSC services by statutory and private health insurance companies, the financial situation has eased for many CSCs.

Outpatient psychooncological care faces a number of challenges. These include the increasing proportion of cancer survivors and the integration of outpatient cancer counseling into new care structures (e.g., survivorship care programs). Ensuring comprehensive care and reducing access barriers are other important areas of action. A groundbreaking decision has been made with regard to the financing of CSCs by health insurance funds. The extent to which this structural innovation will affect the provision and quality of outpatient cancer care should be monitored by future research.