The Hybrid DRGs catalog for 2026 approved in Germany

On November 13, 2025, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) announced that the 2026 Hybrid DRGs catalog had been approved. The following will be valid from 2026:

• The new catalog contains 904 OPS codes (as of 2025, 583 are included);
• The list of Hybrid DRGs was expanded to include 69 Hybrid DRGs (as of 2025, 22 are included). Newly added 47 Hybrid DRGs include those for appendectomy, cholecystectomy, as well as minimally invasive procedures on the coronary arteries and peripheral vessels. In the area of orthopedic procedures, hybrid DRGs have been expanded to include fracture osteosynthesis. Procedures that currently require patients to stay in the hospital for two days were also considered;
• As a result, the number of cases that can be performed on a day case basis by both hospitals and office-based physicians will rise from around 280,000 in 2025 to approximately 900,000 cases in 2026;
• Services for children and individuals with disabilities have been removed from the Hybrid DRGs;
• Add-on reimbursement, which exists in the hospital reimbursement system, does not apply to Hybrid DRGs and cannot be billed separately;
• Starting in 2026, Hybrid DRGs will include greater differentiation by severity level, resulting in further subdivision, including for already existing hybrid DRGs. This will enable more differentiated reimbursement to reflect cost differences. However, no solution has been found for material costs; they are still included in the tariff for the case and cannot be billed separately.

The respective decision of the Extended Evaluation Committee was made on November 11, 2025.

The examples of the newly introduced Hybrid DRGs are provided below:

• F01M “Hybrid DRG of DRG F01C (Implantation of cardioverter/defibrillator (AICD), three-chamber pacing or defibrillator or intracardiac pulse generator, without complicating factors or implantation of a pressure sensor in the pulmonary artery)” with a tariff of €10,281.49 (without postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital) or €10,311.49 (with postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital);
• F49M “Hybrid DRG 1 of DRG F49D (Invasive cardiological diagnostics except in acute myocardial infarction, without intensive care complex treatment >196 / 184 / 368 effort points, age >17 years, without severe complications (CC) in the case of the length of stay >1 day, with cardiac mapping or certain other cardiological diagnostics or certain complex diagnosis)” with a tariff of €2,785.97 (without postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital) or €2,815.97 (with postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital);
• H08M “Hybrid DRG of DRG H08C (Laparoscopic cholecystectomy or certain interventions on the liver and abdominal wall, age >11 years)” with a tariff of €3,101.04 (without postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital) or €3,131.04 (with postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital);
• F59M “Hybrid DRG of DRGs F59B and F59C (Moderately complex vascular interventions without extremely severe complications (CC), without complex vascular intervention, with complex intervention or multiple interventions or specific diagnosis or age <16 years, more than one day of stay)” with a tariff of €5,480.61 (without postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital) or €5,510.61 (with postoperative follow-up treatment in the hospital).

The full details in German can be found here (KBV), here (GKV-Spitzenverband), and here (decision of the Extended Evaluation Committee).

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