Care for Neurological Diseases in German Emergency Units

Currently, care for patients in emergency units is reorganized within the German Health System for various reasons. To date, interdisciplinary emergency units are considered the preferred new type of organizational structure. The German Society for Neurology supports these new developments. However, specific needs for the care of neurological patients need to be taken into account when such decisions are made. For many neurological diseases, the outcome of patients is critically depending on early diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, primary care for these patients must fit with standards of board certified neurological care. To this end, emergency units must be organized in a way that physicians of the few medical specialties that are involved in primary emergency medicine (including neurology) remain primarily responsible for their patients. Centralized emergency units are required in order to maintain optimal organization of the unit and to coordinate the specialities involved. However, a board-certified physician specifically for emergency medicine is not necessary in Germany. This statement of the German Neurological Society is explained in detail in this paper.