"A lot can be done against the staff shortage in the healthcare sector!"

Interview with Katrin Hofmann, Medical Director of Policum Berlin MVZ GmbH

Katrin Hofmann, Medical Director of Policum Berlin MVZ GmbH
Katrin Hofmann, Medical Director of Policum Berlin MVZ GmbH

During the pandemic, not only hospitals but also outpatient practices reached their limits of capacity, which has barely become noticeable to the public awareness. Katrin Hofmann, medical director of the medical care centers of Policum Berlin MVZ GmbH, spoke to Wirtschaftsforum about her experiences during this time and her sustainable measures against the rampant shortage of staff.

Economic Forum: Mrs. Hofmann, as the Medical Director of Policum Berlin MVZ GmbH, you bear the responsibility for one of the largest healthcare providers in the capital. What commitment distinguishes your facilities?

Katrin Hofmann: As a subsidiary of the Sanecum Group, we operate four locations in Berlin – two large multidisciplinary and two additional with a purely psychotherapeutic spectrum of services. There, we cover the entire basic medical care in twelve different specialties, with the exception of urology and gynecology, and take care of approximately 150,000 treatment cases each year.

Economic Forum: How does the strained personnel situation in the healthcare sector reflect in an organization of your size?

Katrin Hofmann: We experience this phenomenon just like any other medical facility – the challenges in filling open positions are generally increasing. Several years ago, when the full extent of this situation was just beginning to emerge, we had already systematically counteracted it, including starting a training initiative for newcomers and career changers. We can already see the first fruits of this today. Of course, the general personnel situation is not easy and has become even more challenging during the pandemic. But the success of our forward-looking measures has shown that a lot can be done to sustainably adjust to the changed conditions.

Policum Berlin MVZ, Rubensstraße 119, 12157 Berlin
Policum Berlin MVZ, Rubensstraße 119, 12157 Berlin
Policum Berlin focuses on modern medical care at its four locations
Policum Berlin focuses on modern medical care at its four locations

Economic Forum: What makes Policum Berlin an attractive training company?

Katrin Hofmann: A significant advantage for committed trainees is certainly our strong interdisciplinarity. Most outpatient medical facilities are usually specialized in only one discipline, so that the respective trainees can only gain experience in a single field of expertise and are furthermore tied to the particular practice for the entire two or three years of their training period. Policum Berlin, on the other hand, has designed an interdisciplinary curriculum across all fields of expertise, which our trainees systematically go through. As a result, they have the opportunity to get to know the lived medical practice in its entire breadth and subsequently make a well-informed decision about in which area they see their future professional career. At the same time, we employ the latest medical procedures from interventional gastroenterology to semi-interventional cardiology, with which we naturally want to inspire young people with a fundamental interest in medical practice in a particularly sustainable way. Also, experienced colleagues who start their activity at Policum Berlin go through a structured onboarding process with us in order to be able to integrate into our company in the best possible way and to fill our medical excellence claim with life from day one. Intensive care for all our employees by our company is an indispensable requirement for this.

Economic Forum: How has Policum Berlin experienced the Corona pandemic?

Katrin Hofmann: In the context of the enormous strain that outpatient medicine has experienced during this time, I still perceive a somewhat distorted picture in the public perception, where almost exclusively inpatient care is discussed. At the same time, however, the vast majority of Corona patients were never admitted to a hospital but were treated purely on an outpatient basis – alongside the other patient flows that naturally had to continue to be cared for. Thus, the professional, organizational, and physical burden on our staff was enormous – yet the financial and structural support we actually received was frighteningly low at times. At the height of the pandemic, I organized small vans myself and picked up essential medical products such as masks and simple protective clothing with a few employees at the distribution points – we were very much on our own. In the end, medical centers like Policum Berlin had to finance the Corona bonuses for the doctors and medical assistants out of their own pockets – which we certainly did to honor their enormous commitment at least a little. However, this picture reveals a clear discrepancy between what our sector has achieved in this difficult time and the appreciation it receives for it.

Policum Berlin Prevention Center
In 2023, Policum Berlin established a new prevention center
Policum Berlin MVZ, Franz-Jacob-Straße 10, 10369 Berlin
Policum Berlin MVZ, Franz-Jacob-Straße 10, 10369 Berlin

Economic Forum: How can the healthcare sector remain an attractive field of business in the outpatient sector against this backdrop in the future as well?

Katrin Hofmann: Revenues from the statutory health insurance have not been sufficient for a long time to operate economically sustainably. That's why we founded a prevention center in 2023, to systematically expand our range of services in the private medical sector. The demand for corresponding consulting services, such as in anti-aging or sports medicine, has increased significantly in recent years, so we would now like to contribute our expertise as healthcare providers close to patients in this area as well.

More Articles on Topic

Relief for Blind and Visually Impaired People Through AI

Interview with Klaus Knüpfer, CEO of EV Optron GmbH

Relief for Blind and Visually Impaired People Through AI

EV Optron is recognized as a manufacturer of products for blind users as well as reading and reading aloud devices for people with visual impairments: a Te...

MedTech with Responsibility – Solutions that Connect

Interview with Laura Garcia Baglietto, Executive Vice President Medical Devices & Environment International of the GBA Group and Dr. Timo Lebold, Managing Director of GBA MDS GmbH

MedTech with Responsibility – Solutions that Connect

The GBA Group is one of the leading laboratory and consulting service providers in the European Life Sciences sector. In Gilching near Munich, GBA M...

More than 'just' similar

Interview with Mag. Helmut Kaisergruber, Managing Director and Co-owner, and Dr. Sabine Möritz-Kaisergruber, Managing Director and Co-owner of Astro Pharma GmbH

More than 'just' similar

Biosimilars, high-quality subsequent products of biologics, are increasingly gaining importance in the international health market. As a cost-effective...

Meeting patients at their needs

Interview with Alexander Fröhlich, Vice President DACH and General Manager of Dexcom Deutschland GmbH and Dr. Michael Struck, Marketing Director DACH of Dexcom Deutschland GmbH

Meeting patients at their needs

Easing the daily life of people with diabetes is the goal of Dexcom Deutschland GmbH. The globally successful corporation Dexcom is one of the market leaders...

Manfred Brinkmann, Managing Editor-in-Chief

Manfred Brinkmann

Managing Editor of European Business

Are You Shaping the Future of Business?

As Managing Editor-in-Chief, I am always searching for the next generation of leaders and innovators. If you are at the helm of a company making a significant impact, I invite you to connect with us. Let's share your vision with our audience of influentia.