While it is of general interest for psychiatry to test this hypothesis of different resource allocation
to SZ and SAD treatments, it is of special importance when economic prerequisites are
changing. In Germany, the current lump sum payment scheme for psychiatric services is based
on daily treatment costs depending on general categories of human resources allocation in a
hospital ward, but independent of patient’s diagnosis. Following the reimbursement in the
somatic medicine based on diagnostic related groups (DRGs), in 2009, a new national system
of cost accounting in psychiatry and psychosomatics has been introduced. The system is the
new basis of daily cost data collection but is still not implemented as the basis of reimbursement.
The implementation of this new system as a controlling instrument in the clinical daily
routine is currently a very controversial issue.