This paper deals with the options of a cross-sector cooperation between hospitals and representatives of the outpatient sector under consideration of the current social legislation. In practice, we see a lot of horizontal, vertical and lateral ways of cooperation which hospitals pursue in an effort to hold their own at the national - and even international - level in the face of existing political, legal and social challenges. Cooperation within the value-added chain with physicians who work in the outpatient sector, providing pre-hospital or post-hospital treatment services, is of particular importance. Office-based doctors, in their role as referring physicians, actually have a significant effect on the patient´s decision to select a specific hospital for undergoing an elective operation or plannable conservative treatment. Additionally, given the influencing effect of DRGs (diagnosis related groups) which pressures hospitals to curtail the patients´ duration of stay, office-based doctors gain in importance, as they are capable of administering continued treatment after a patient has been released from hospital. This paper is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach to address, from a scientific perspective, the necessities and problems of cooperation as well as possible solutions. In addition to aspects of political economics and business administration it also considers the legal framework conditions, including social legislation. In an empirical analysis, developed in cooperation with the Baden-Württembergische Krankenhausgesellschaft (BWKG) hospital association and with the support of hospitals based in the state of Baden-Württemberg, issues of cooperation are discussed from the viewpoint of the hospitals; these issues are the focal point of this paper.    «

This paper deals with the options of a cross-sector cooperation between hospitals and representatives of the outpatient sector under consideration of the current social legislation. In practice, we see a lot of horizontal, vertical and lateral ways of cooperation which hospitals pursue in an effort to hold their own at the national - and even international - level in the face of existing political, legal and social challenges. Cooperation within the value-added chain with physicians who work in...    »