Financing Regional Dementia Networks in Germany: Determinants of Sustainable Healthcare Networks

Objectives Analysis of practice-based financing concepts in German dementia networks (DN); Provision of sustainable financing structures and their determinants in DN. Materials and Methods Qualitative expert interviews with leaders of 13 DN were conducted. A semi-structured interview guide was used to analyse four main topics: Finance-related organization, cost, sources of funding and financial sustainability. Results DN were primarily financed by membership fees, earnings of services provided, public funds and payments by municipalities or health care providers. 63 % of the DN reported a financial sustainability. Funds to support the interpersonal expanding, a mix of internal and external financing sources and investments of the municipality were determinants of a sustainable financing. Overall, DN in rural areas seemed to be disadvantaged due to a lack of potential linkable service providers. Conclusion DN in urban regions are more likely able to gather sustainable funding resources. A minimum funding of 50.000 (sic)/year for human resources coordinating the DN, seems to be a threshold for a sustainable DN.