[The bought patient : The ethical value of per capita flat rates from a medical viewpoint].

Payments received by private physicians per patient sent for hospital treatment are a relatively new phenomenon in the German medical system. This practice has been made possible by the currently aggressive competition between hospitals. The practice of such regular payments has several legal as well as ethical aspects. It needs to be clarified whether and in which cases such payments constitute a justified fee for a valuable and necessary service or whether they simply represent an element of corruption which is used to generate case numbers in a competitive market situation.