Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), Germany's largest statutory health insurer, registered more suspected treatment errors in 2025 than in any previous year. A total of 7,540 policyholders contacted the insurer to report a potential treatment error, the company told newspapers of the Funke media group on Saturday. The figure represents a 14 percent increase compared to the year before.
According to TK, roughly one in three reported cases was substantiated enough during the review process for medical law specialists to initiate formal proceedings. The insurer also noted that it assumes a significant number of treatment errors go undetected altogether.
TK's CEO Jens Baas used the latest figures to push for greater openness in the healthcare system. He stated that the conditions need to be set urgently so that undetected treatment errors can be identified more effectively. Baas criticised the prevailing tendency to conceal or downplay errors rather than treating them as opportunities for improvement.
Surgical procedures accounted for the largest share of suspected treatment errors reported in 2025, at 29 percent. Dentistry and orthodontics followed at 17 percent, while obstetrics and gynaecology accounted for 11 percent of all reported cases.
Baas advocated for the creation of a central reporting register and called for mandatory reporting obligations for all healthcare facilities. TK's treatment error expert Jonas Petersen highlighted an additional structural issue, explaining that even when billing data contains clear indicators of a treatment error, current legislation prevents the insurer from alerting the affected policyholders.
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