Medical home care (Behandlungspflege) in Berlin: prescribed home nursing

We carry out the medical home care your doctor has prescribed (Behandlungspflege) in your own home – from giving medication to changing dressings. The legal basis is § 37 SGB V; your health insurer (Krankenkasse) covers the cost from the day the prescription (Verordnung) is issued, provided we submit the form within the deadline. We are taking on new patients, and you will hear back the same working day.

030 64828209 – call now

Behandlungspflege is the part of care that a doctor orders. In law it is called häusliche Krankenpflege – home nursing care – and it is set out in § 37 SGB V. It covers preparing and giving medication, injections such as insulin or heparin, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, changing dressings, putting on and taking off compression stockings from compression class II upwards, and the care of catheters and stomas. Compression class I is not on the list of covered services; anyone who wears those stockings can book help with putting them on with us as a self-pay service. Everything else we carry out in your home, on the doctor's orders and with every visit documented.

Behandlungspflege and Grundpflege (basic personal care) are often confused. Behandlungspflege is medically prescribed, runs through the health insurer (Krankenkasse) under SGB V and does not depend on a care level (Pflegegrad). Grundpflege means personal hygiene, eating and mobility; it is usually paid as a care benefit in kind under § 36 SGB XI, which is available from care level 2 at the earliest – anyone with care level 1 has only the relief amount (Entlastungsbetrag, § 45b SGB XI). The law does know one exception: if care at home prevents or shortens a hospital stay, § 37 Abs. 1 SGB V also covers personal care and help in the household for a limited period, with no care level at all. Regular repositioning to prevent pressure sores, by contrast, counts as Grundpflege.

These services are provided by Sonnenstrahlen Pflege UG (haftungsbeschränkt). We hold two approvals: under SGB V for home nursing care, and a care provision contract under SGB XI for everything the long-term care insurance fund (Pflegekasse) pays for. If you have statutory health and long-term care insurance, we bill the payer directly – nothing goes through you. We drive out from three addresses: the main office at Sickingenstr. 52 (Moabit), the office at Heilbronner Str. 1 (Halensee) and the office at Theodor-Heuss-Platz 1 (Westend). Our team speaks German, English and Russian.

Services that can be prescribed under SGB V

Preparing and giving medication

We prepare medication to the doctor's plan, fill the weekly pill box and give tablets, drops or eye ointments.

Injections and monitoring

Subcutaneous injections such as insulin or heparin, plus blood sugar and blood pressure checks with a written report back to the practice.

Dressings and wound care

Dressing changes on the doctor's orders, monitoring of wound healing and the treatment of a pressure sore, as far as the practice has prescribed it.

Catheters, stoma, compression

Care of urinary catheters and stomas; putting on compression stockings and tights from compression class II in the morning and taking them off again in the evening.

Behandlungspflege in these districts

Our rounds cover the west and north of the city. From the three offices in Moabit, Halensee and Wilmersdorf our nurses reach the following districts without a long drive – and with time-critical tasks such as an insulin injection, that is exactly what decides whether we arrive on time. Of the large district of Wedding, only 13353 is included.

  • Moabit
  • Tiergarten
  • Wedding (13353 only)
  • Charlottenburg
  • Charlottenburg-Nord
  • Westend
  • Siemensstadt and Spandau
  • Wilmersdorf
  • Halensee
  • Schmargendorf
  • Grunewald and Dahlem
  • Schöneberg and Friedenau

Postcodes: 10551, 10553, 10555, 10557, 10559, 10585, 10587, 10589, 10623, 10625, 10627, 10629, 10707, 10709, 10711, 10713, 10717, 10719, 10777, 10779, 10787, 10789, 10825, 12159, 12161, 13353, 13597, 13599, 13627, 13629, 14050, 14052, 14053, 14055, 14057, 14059, 14193, 14195, 14197, 14199

Costs, co-payment and billing

Prescribed Behandlungspflege is paid for by your health insurer (Krankenkasse), counted from the date of issue on the Muster 12 form. There is one condition, a deadline: the form must reach the insurer within three working days of that date – then the days while the approval is still being processed there are covered too (HKP-Richtlinie, § 6 Abs. 6). A letter of approval in the letterbox is therefore not the signal to start. You will not get an invoice from us for the prescribed visits. All that remains open is the statutory co-payment under § 61 SGB V, payable by insured people aged 18 and over. It has two parts. First: on each of the first 28 treatment days in a calendar year you contribute ten per cent of the costs incurred on that day; every further day in the same year is free. Second: for each prescription (Verordnung) issued there is a one-off 10 euros on top.

Anyone who has exceeded their individual limit on out-of-pocket costs receives an exemption certificate from their insurer. Show it to us once and we will charge you nothing. Grundpflege, companionship and help in the household come out of a different pot – the long-term care insurance under SGB XI – and require at least care level 2 (Pflegegrad 2); below that, the Entlastungsbetrag helps. If you are privately insured, we send you an invoice for your policy.

How prescribed care gets started

  1. Get in touch: One call to 030 64828209 is enough, or an email to info@sonnenstrahlen-pflege.de. You will have an answer the same working day.
  2. We go through the prescription with you at home: A qualified nurse goes through with you what the Muster 12 says, which times fit around it and how access to the flat will be arranged. This visit costs nothing.
  3. Submitting the prescription: It is issued by your GP or specialist practice, or after a hospital stay by the ward. We take the paper to the insurer within the three-working-day deadline, so that cover applies from the day it was issued.
  4. The visits begin: You get firm times and a team small enough to know you. If the practice changes the orders, we follow suit the same day.

Questions about Behandlungspflege

What does Behandlungspflege cost in Berlin?

You pay us nothing for the prescribed visits – we bill your health insurer (Krankenkasse), and their cover already starts on the day the prescription (Verordnung) was issued. What remains is the statutory co-payment, worked out as described in the costs section above; with an exemption certificate that falls away too. Anything wanted on top of the prescription we discuss beforehand, so that nothing turns up unexpectedly on an invoice.

Which form does the insurer need, and how quickly must it get there?

Home nursing care is prescribed by your GP, your specialist or, on discharge, by the hospital – on the Muster 12 form, stating the service, the frequency and the period. After that, speed counts: only if the paper reaches the health insurer within three working days of the date of issue does cover apply retrospectively from that day. We check the details in advance, keep to the deadline and give you a reminder before the period runs out. If there is no prescription at all, the insurer cannot pay; we may then carry out the task as a self-pay service.

When will the first nurse be at the door?

We are currently taking on new patients. The starting date depends on three things: the prescription being issued, your address, and a free slot on the right round. We do not have to wait for the insurer's approval. If it all fits together, we give you a fixed date and fixed times. If you are coming out of hospital, we speak to the discharge team beforehand so that nothing breaks off between ward and home.

What is the difference between Behandlungspflege and Grundpflege?

Behandlungspflege is prescribed by a doctor and paid for by the health insurer under § 37 SGB V, whether or not there is a care level (Pflegegrad). Grundpflege means help with personal hygiene, eating and mobility; it is a benefit in kind from the long-term care insurance fund (Pflegekasse), for which at least care level 2 is needed. If nursing at home is meant to prevent a hospital stay, the health insurer can cover personal care and household help for a limited period as well. The two are billed separately, even within the same visit.

Which Berlin districts do you drive to regularly?

We are regularly out in Moabit, Tiergarten, Charlottenburg, Charlottenburg-Nord, Westend, Siemensstadt, Spandau, Wilmersdorf, Halensee, Schmargendorf, Grunewald, Dahlem, Schöneberg and Friedenau. Of the district of Wedding (13353) we serve only this one postcode around the Sprengelkiez; all other Wedding postcodes lie outside our rounds. In the end it is the postcode that decides – the full list is at the top of this page.

In which language will you explain my insulin dose and dressing change?

In German, English or Russian. With Behandlungspflege that is more than a courtesy: someone who understands why a dressing should be left in place, or why the practice has changed a dose, makes fewer mistakes. Tell us at the first appointment which language you feel safer in. Whether we can plan it in as a fixture depends on the round – and we will be straight with you about that.

Prescription in hand? Get in touch

The quickest way is by phone: 030 64828209. Written enquiries reach us at info@sonnenstrahlen-pflege.de. Have the prescription or the discharge letter next to you and we can tell you straight away what is possible. We charge nothing for the first appointment in your home. Social services and hospital discharge teams use the same number.

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What you can rely on

  • Licensed care provider: Care provision contract under § 72 SGB XI and approval for home nursing care under § 37 SGB V; listed in the Berlin state register of care providers.
  • Billed directly with your insurer: with all statutory health and nursing care insurers; privately insured clients receive an invoice for their insurer.
  • Accepting new patients: we respond the same working day.
  • We work with hospitals: we take over directly from hospital discharge management, coordinated with clinic, GP practice and insurer.
  • Three offices in Berlin: Sickingenstr. 52 (Moabit), Heilbronner Str. 1 (Halensee), Theodor-Heuss-Platz 1 (Westend).
  • German · English · Russian: care and consultation in your language.

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