Continuing Professional Development (CPD) within the Workplace in a Digitised Health-Care System: The Perspective from a German Professional Union.

Abstract

Marburger Bund (MB), the largest doctors’ union in Germany (and Europe), has for many years claimed that “CME [Continuing Medical Education] is an integral part of physicians’ professional practice. It is an element of quality assurance in medicine. All physicians should have equal access to CME, in particular irrespective of their level of training, function, or professional position. CME should be considered as part of physicians’ work performance. It should primarily take place during working hours. Doctors should have the opportunity to practise CME at the workplace (e.g. via the Internet). Cost of CME should be covered by the employer” [1]. To support this claim, before Covid, MB negotiated within its tariff contracts, paid educational leave of up to 5 days per year. This allows doctors to attend external CPD activities like medical congresses; but no major progress has been made in strengthening workplace education [2]. This might now change. In the past, experts have rated the digital maturity of the German health-care system as “inappropriate” [3,4]. However, it is only since the Covid pandemic stressed the entire system, that politicians have been willing to admit that the system as a whole could have performed better, if greater digitisation had facilitated an improved availability and speed of information across the health-care sector. Federal Government subsequently implemented the “Future of Hospital Care” law (“Krankenhauszukunftsgesetz”, KHZG, 5), which came into effect on 29 October 2020. KHZG allows Federal Government, together with the Federal States (“Bundesländer”), to offer 4.3 billion Euros to hospitals in order to modernise their digital infrastructure. Thus, KHZG has resulted in the greatest public investment in digitisation of the health-care system in Germany.