Long COVID follow-up outpatient clinics in Germany: Insights and perspectives

Since 2020, several specialised follow-up outpatient clinics for patients with Long COVID have been set up across Germany. A recent study published in the medical journal BMC Health Services Research identified and surveyed 112 of those specialised outpatient clinics. The researchers collected publicly available information about the outpatient clinics and looked at the responses from 45 outpatient clinic lead doctors who participated in the survey. 

The researchers found that treatment in the specialised outpatient clinics did not follow a standardised protocol, but addressed the symptoms of the patients in a personalised manner. Those largely fell into two domains: Respiratory symptoms and neurocognitive symptoms, such as headaches and memory and concentration deficits. Respiratory symptoms were much more likely to affect females than males. The clinicians surveyed reported that more than half of the patients were experiencing strong symptom-related distress. At the same time, they were convinced that their work in the outpatient counselling services provide significant benefits for many of those affected. 

In response to the sustained demand for Long COVID treatment, new specialised outpatient clinics are being set up. Currently, outpatient care for Long COVID patients does not follow standardised treatment protocols but is personalized and symptom-orientated. This leads to clear treatment variability between the individual clinics. Therefore, the researchers recommend further standardisation of diagnosis and treatment protocols. This could improve patient care and ease the professional exchange among clinicians. 

If you are affected or just interested, you can find a list of the clinics and outpatient clinics specialised in diagnosing and caring for Long COVID patients in our service area. The list also includes outpatient clinics from this study.