The director of Santésuisse advocates telemedicine
Keystone-SDA
Verena Nold, the departing head of Santésuisse, has outlined her vision of the future healthcare system. She would place hospitals at the end of the care chain and introduce telemedicine on a large scale, she told CH Media.
An efficient outpatient care network could solve 80% of health problems”, she declared in an interview with German-language newspapers.
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The departing head of the association of Swiss health insurers would also abolish cantonal sovereignty over healthcare and introduce six major healthcare regions. Each region would be subject to a compulsory healthcare distribution formula, which would determine, for example, the optimum number of primary care doctors or specialists per 1,000 inhabitants.
New medical tariff
In the hospital sector too, she said, clear benchmarks and consistent specialisation were needed, for example in orthopaedics, obstetrics or cardiology. She pointed out that corresponding approaches were already being discussed in Parliament, and that the government could introduce such health regions if premiums were to rise significantly again.
Nold has worked for the umbrella organisation of Swiss health insurers for 22 years, including 13 years as its director. The 63-year-old will step down on December 31.
“The hardest part was certainly developing the new medical tariff. It took 15 years, but now the outpatient lump sums and Tardoc will come into force in 2026,” she said.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
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