BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The new government comparison portal for hospitals in Germany is to be revised and slimmed down following massive criticism of the data displayed. "We are subjecting the hospital atlas to a comprehensive update and making it much easier for patients to understand," said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to the "Rheinische Post" (Wednesday). Instead of the current 23,000 different procedures, the new version should "initially show how good each hospital is for the 20 most important procedures". An update of the portal is planned for a few days.

The "Bundes-Klinik-Atlas", which was launched in mid-May, is intended to provide information on the services and treatment quality of around 1,700 hospitals. It had already received its first update a week later. The health ministers of the federal states then called for existing errors to be corrected so as not to endanger patients with incorrect information. The reason for this was that the data was no longer meaningful. Criticism also came from medical associations and the hospital sector, which operates its own information portal.

A ministry spokeswoman said in Berlin that the atlas is a digital project that is constantly being improved. Information from the field is also taken on board. In the upcoming new version, groups of diseases will be presented, Lauterbach said. "Patients will be guided on the start page via larger tiles with general terms such as cancer, heart or bones and joints. Behind these, we then break down individual diseases and operations such as bowel cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, bypass and stent operations or the use of artificial knee and hip joints."

The German Hospital Federation spoke of a "declaration of bankruptcy". CEO Gerald Gaß said that one could only shake one's head at this behavior at the taxpayer's expense. Who determines which operations are "important" for the atlas and on what basis remains an open question. "The minister must shut down this hospital atlas immediately and fundamentally revise it and remove errors so that patients can use it without worrying," demanded Gaß.

Union health expert Tino Sorge (CDU) criticized that Lauterbach had made a false start with his hospital atlas. "He has done a disservice to the legitimate desire for transparency in the healthcare system." Lauterbach must apologize to the patients, he said.

The minister once again rejected criticism. "For the most part, it is unjustified. The treatment data used, which is backed by 16 million insured persons, is correct. If the data had been wrong, I would have taken the atlas offline." Nevertheless, the debate has shown that the atlas is too complex for laypeople./vrb/sam/DP/ngu