With the Medical Personnel Assessment System (ÄPS-BÄK), the German Medical Association (BÄK) has developed an instrument to precisely determine the actual need for medical staff in hospitals. After a successful pilot phase in ten hospitals, nationwide testing is now beginning, as the BÄK announced on August 26, 2025.

ÄPS-BÄK systematically records all activities of doctors, including diagnostics, therapy and indirect tasks such as quality assurance, further training or administrative activities. The aim is patient- and task-oriented personnel planning that takes into account the special features of the patient populations and specialist departments. The system is intended to create transparency and help hospitals to present their staffing requirements to decision-makers in a well-founded manner.

In accordance with the Hospital Care Improvement Act (KHVVG), the practicality of ÄPS-BÄK is being tested. The Federal Ministry of Health commissioned the auditing firm KPMG to carry out the trial. Selected clinics that are obliged to participate according to § 137m SGB V will receive invitations to participate and information material this week. The data is collected via a browser-based platform, which enables qualitative comments in addition to department-specific data. A voluntary survey of a focus group is planned for the end of September 2025 to identify potential for improvement.

The BÄK supports the evaluation and calls on doctors to actively participate. The system, which has been developed since 2019 in cooperation with medical associations, is to be established in the long term as the standard for staffing as part of the hospital reform. The trial examines, among other things, the comparability of the data and its applicability in different hospital structures in order to enable nationwide use.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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