Which clinic is the best? Editor-in-chief about the stern clinic magazine

Editorial

The “White List” hospital search tool has been around for almost 15 years. In March, the project, which was launched in 2008, stopped its work. Ultimately, the popular search engine, which soon became the basis for the clinic search portals of the largest German health insurance companies, became a victim of its own success. Germany has had an official clinic atlas since mid-May. Karl Lauterbach presented it in Berlin. Some of the words he found were not a sign of modesty. The health minister promised that understandable information about good hospital care would now be “accessible to everyone and not just the privilege of a few.”

Comprehensively updated clinic lists

It is undoubtedly commendable that there is now an official, nationwide query option for hospital quality data. It is still receiving – sometimes very harsh – detailed criticism from the medical community. Leading professional associations see the current offer as a “beta version”. Unlike many digitization problems in the healthcare system, such as electronic patient records or the overly complex network connection of practices with special hardware, however, rapid remedial action is possible and a functional solution is in sight. But would it have even come this far without private and non-profit initiatives? And what does it say to us as patients if a minister, whose party has governed for many years and who also shaped health policy as a member of parliament, insinuates in 2024 that only the “privileged” have actually been able to find their way in our medical system so far?

Fortunately, this is not the case. The broad support that the star– Clinic and doctor lists, as well as the lively feedback we have received, shows that there is by no means a threatening shortage of responsible patients who want to obtain comprehensive and broad information. There is nothing to suggest that it is consistently privileged people who actively participate in diagnostics and therapy, who expect and demand quality and transparency. We would like to contribute to this – and with this star-Extra our comprehensively updated clinic lists. This time, Germany’s leading rehabilitation clinics are also included, which make a significant contribution every day to ensuring that first-class therapy can be followed by lasting healing.

In the clinic booklet, doctors and patients have their say

In the comprehensive presentation of the methodology that our very experienced partner institute MINQ uses to create the lists, you will learn why our recommendations in terms of depth and differentiation go far beyond what a mere directory with data access can achieve. The clinic lists are also limited to the group of quality leaders. As before – and now for the last time – the commendable work of the White List provided one of the strong pillars on which we were able to base our work. We would like to thank them from the bottom of our hearts for this. In accordance with our constant editorial practice, I would also like to give you a transparency note: The White List was founded on the initiative of the Bertelsmann Foundation, which holds shares in Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA. The star appears within their corporate structure. From 2011, the White List was organized as its own non-profit organization.

And finally: This extra is also a real starBecause we are passionate magazine journalists, our reporters were once again on site in first-class hospitals to describe cutting-edge medicine in a way that is both vivid and tangible. Doctors and patients alike have their say. The importance of non-medical staff in supporting the system becomes clear – this time in a portrait of a hospital chaplain, for example. The challenge of balancing humanity and professionalism becomes clear to us. We wish you and your loved ones good health.

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