Erreichbarkeit geeigneter Zielkliniken in Zeiten des Klinikstrukturwandels

The hospital landscape in Germany is constantly changing. Since ambulance transport destinations are often hospitals, these structural changes also impact prehospital emergency medical care.

Against the background of planned specialization and concentration of hospital locations and medical departments, the timely accessibility of suitable transport destinations for prehospital emergencies must still be ensured. Consequently, appropriate prehospital time intervals can be met, enabling prompt further treatment. Special planning tools can help to assess whether the care for patients in an emergency is adequate.

An interactive planning tool was developed to visualize the accessibility of the nearest suitable hospital for various tracer diagnoses on maps. It also allows the simulation of structural changes. Prehospital emergency medical services locations as well as hospital structure and routed vehicle travel times are used as the data basis.

The maps generated in the user interface provide spatial insights into preclinical care. As a result, regional differences become visible. The tool also indicates that common tracer diagnoses are well covered, whereas prehospital times for less common emergencies tend to be longer, especially in rural areas.

Interactive maps can reveal existing gaps in care and simulate the effects of structural changes. They therefore make an important contribution to the planning of emergency care.