Who voted in favor

Visiting Patients: Vienna Lowers the Cap Again

Vienna has made further adjustments regarding non-resident patients.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

So much for a let-up. When it comes to guest patients, Vienna is stepping up its efforts. The religious hospitals will receive more funding—provided they significantly reduce the number of “hospital tourists” once again. The “Krone” has the details of the regulation and knows which parties approved it. 

In the midst of an ongoing dispute with Lower Austria, Vienna is taking a new approach: The city is tightening the caps on so-called guest patients—that is, patients from other provinces who undergo elective procedures in Vienna’s hospitals even though they could be treated at home.

And this move has broad support: the SPÖ, NEOS, Greens, ÖVP, and FPÖ unanimously approved the measure in the City Council Committee, the City Senate, and at last week’s City Council meeting.

City Councilor for Health Peter Hacker has once again significantly lowered the caps at the Order hospitals.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Upper limit reduced by another 20 percent
But what does the new regulation look like? Vienna’s seven religious hospitals are receiving significantly more money this year—but there’s a catch. Funding for 2025 was raised in the final budget from 131.7 to 160 million euros, and for 2026, an additional 174 million euros were approved. In return, the hospitals must actively reduce the number of non-resident patients.

Vienna will transfer a total of 334 million euros to the religious hospitals, such as the Speising Hospital, for 2025 and 2026. In exchange, Viennese residents will have priority for elective surgeries.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

60 percent of 2019
In concrete terms: Starting in 2026, the city will cover only 60 percent of the non-resident patient bed-days from 2019. By comparison: Last year, it was still 80 percent. A further reduction of 20 percent. No Viennese funds will be allocated for anything beyond that. The math is simple: Hospitals that admit too many patients from other federal states will have to cover the costs themselves. The benchmark is the figure of 96,138 guest patient bed-days from 2019; this results in a target of 57,683 adjusted bed-days for 2026.

Applies only to elective surgeries
Acute and emergency cases are exempt from the regulation—anyone taken to the nearest hospital after a heart attack will, of course, be cared for. Elective procedures, however, should take place in the patient’s home state. February figures show that there is still a need for action: At the Orthopedic Hospital Speising, the proportion of guest patients was 31 percent, and at the Herz-Jesu Hospital, 21 percent.

What is the stance of the political parties on the lawsuit?
Incidentally, the ÖVP Lower Austria is currently taking one of the religious hospitals to court. Given the all-party resolution, support for this from Vienna is likely to be rather limited.