MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - The financial situation of many German hospitals is precarious, according to a new hospital survey. According to the survey published on Tuesday by the Munich-based management consultancy Roland Berger in the executive suites of the 600 largest hospitals, more than half of them are in the red. According to the survey, the situation of public hospitals is particularly difficult: almost two-thirds - 63 percent - are in the red.

In addition, the CEOs and medical directors surveyed by Roland Berger expect a wave of closures in the coming years. Fifty-one percent expect that of the 1,900 hospitals currently in operation, a maximum of 1,250 will remain. That would be a good third fewer than today. As main cause the hospital managers called the increase of ambulatory instead of the so far usual - and financially more profitable - stationary treatments. From the planned hospital reform of the Federal Government only few expect an improvement of their financial situation.

According to the survey, many hospital managers see the shortage of specialists as a major problem. According to Roland Berger, the expected wave of closures could lead to a slight easing of the personnel situation because staff would then be "released".

In view of the accelerating consolidation on the hospital market, the management consultants assume that more hospitals will also merge in the next few years. "We recommend that hospital operators cooperate with other service providers in order to leverage synergies and operate more profitably," said Janes Grotelüschen, one of the authors. According to the report, this also includes expanding outpatient care.

Apart from that, digitalization will play an increasingly important role in everyday hospital life, according to the survey: The majority of the hospital executives surveyed attributed the greatest importance to the expansion of telemedicine, followed by artificial intelligence. According to the survey, the latter could benefit medical staff both in image recognition and in medical decision-making./cho/DP/zb