Germany sees rise in equipment spending:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
In 2001, German health service expenditure on medical equipment, including bandages, pharmaceuticals and dentures, for the first time outstripped expenditure on medical services, says a report published last week by the federal statistical office. Of the total healthcare expenditure of E225bn ($248bn) in 2001, medical equipment funding amounted to some E60.4bn (26.7%), marginally ahead of the E59.6bn spent on physicians costs (26.4%) and the E51.6bn spent on nursing costs (22.8%). Between 1992 and 2001, expenditure rose by 14.8% after inflation, to 10.9% of GDP, placing it third in the world in terms of healthcare spending. In 2001, per capita expenditure on healthcare was E2,740. At this point some 4.1 million people, or every tenth employee in Germany, worked for the health service, although only 2.7 million were employed as full-time staff.