Charité is the largest clinic in Europe, as well as the role model of university hospitals in Germany. The clinic works in conjunction with academic giants such as the Humboldt University of Berlin and the Free University of Berlin.
According to rankings by Newsweek magazine and Data Portal Statista, Charité is the best clinic in Europe and fifth best in the world.
Charité is known far beyond Germany, as the world renowned doctors have worked here and continue to work here, among them are the 11 Nobel prize winners. This is more than half of all the German Nobel Prize winners in Physiology and Medicine.
The academic status of the clinic means that new researches are conducted together with the universities and innovations are born, which later save thousands of patients lives in the clinic. It is here that diagnostic and treatment methods are available that are unrivalled anywhere else in the world.
Charité is internationally renowned for its excellent practice of teaching future leaders in the field of medicine.
Reviews of the Charité clinic in Berlin are further confirmation of the high quality of the services provided. The hospital's academic status means that it conducts research in collaboration with universities and develops innovations that subsequently save thousands of patients' lives.
The structure of Charité includes four campuses, as well as about 100 different faculties and institutes, which constitute a total of 17 different centers of medicine in Charité. The total area of the clinic's campuses is 540,000 square meters.
In 2010, the clinic celebrated its 300th anniversary. Today Charité is one of the largest employers in Berlin. In the centers of the clinic, there are 13,200 employees (or 17,100 people, including subsidiaries), and the total annual turnover is 1,6 billion euros. 9,797 scientists and doctors work in Charité (261 of them are professors), 4,293 nurses, and 725 administrative employees.
The Charité Medical Centre has been ranked first among the country's best clinics for the eighth time. The ranking was based on an extensive comparison of 7,270 clinics and 11,000 doctors in Germany.
The ranking took into account hygiene standards, patient index and suitability for diabetics, the proportion of specialists and nursing staff, qualifications, equipment, certificates and nursing standards. As in previous years, Charité ranks first in the overall results and is thus recognised as the ‘best clinic in Germany’.
The clinic received excellent ratings in the following areas of specialisation: childbirth, cardiology, lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, orthopaedics, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, depression, anxiety disorders, radiation therapy, diabetes, brain tumours, vascular surgery, spinal surgery, traumatology, leukaemia, gallbladder surgery, skin treatment, skin cancer, stroke, and paediatric surgery.
In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin ranked second in Germany out of 25 participating German universities in the field of medicine. The institution also ranks 44th out of 775 participating international universities worldwide. Compared to last year, the university has improved its position by one place nationally and two places globally.
Internationally, Charité is considered one of the most influential medical institutions in Germany. In a nationwide comparison, only Heidelberg University ranks ahead of Charité, followed by the University Hospital of Munich.
Modern radiology and nuclear medicine are available in Charite. The structure of the clinic includes 6 radiological centers, including the Department of Neuroradiology and Pediatric Radiology, as well as the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Medical Physics.
Radiology of Charité is represented by the most modern technologies: 14 CT scanners, 12 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners and numerous ultrasound machines. There is also availability a positron emission computed tomography (PET-CT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT-CT).
In the Charité Clinic, interventional radiology is also developed (minimally invasive interventions under the control of visualization methods).
For modern and safe interventional radiology, Charité has 9 angiography systems and an open MRI system.
The hospital uses cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (cardiac MRI) to better visualise myocardial damage.
This is the only imaging technology that allows the heart muscle to be examined without the need for invasive procedures and without the use of X-rays or radioactive substances, enabling the early diagnosis of heart abnormalities.
For the implementation of high-quality laboratory testing clinic Charité together with the clinic Vivantes created LaborBerlin – Europe's largest hospital laboratory, having 400 employees in the state and 20 million tests per year.
The clinic is multidisciplinary and leads the way in terms of the quality of medical care provided in virtually all areas of medicine. Charité is the birthplace of thoracic surgery and heart surgery, is one of the largest heart hospitals in Germany. Cardiological examination covers all diseases, and for treatment the whole spectrum of modern invasive and non-invasive methods are available to cure any cardiovascular disease.
Neurology in Charité is performed under the direction of Professor Dr Matthias Endrs. His scientific activity is focused on the study of stroke and functional imaging of the brain. The hospital has well-equipped laboratories for neuroscientists and other modern methods for diagnosing neurological diseases. In the stroke therapy department of Neurology section, more than 900 patients are provided medical care annually.
Oncology in Charité Hospital is represented by three specialized centers: Charite Mitte, Charite Virchow and Benjamin Franklin Clinic. In addition to many years of experience of the physician, the Charite clinic has all modern therapeutic techniques and devices, such as the CyberKnife, as well as robotic system da Vinci.
Patient treatment is carried out on an interdisciplinary basis. This ensures that there is always a group of experts who individually care for each patient and their condition. For the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies there are methods such as antibody therapy, radio- and immunotherapy, or transplantation of autologous stem cells, cellular immunotherapy, regional chemotherapy.
The focus in treatment of Lung Cancer is given to early detection of lung cancer, the study of mechanisms of inflammation, gene therapy, airway remodeling in chronic respiratory diseases and lung transplantation.
Radiooncology treatment in Charite offers procedures such as: tomotherapy, radiosurgery, intensive-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), radiotherapy with visualization (IGRT), intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), total body irradiation (TBI), combination chemotherapy with immunotherapy and bio modulators with radiotherapy, Rapid Arc technology, intraoperative whole body irradiation and others. The patient is treated by interdisciplinary team. This ensures that there is always a team of experts who individually take care of each patient and his condition.
In the orthopedics department of clinic Charite all diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system are treated. Modern technologies and prostheses are available here. Center of Orthopedics in Clinic Charite has repeatedly been placed in the TOP orthopedic medical institutions in Germany according to the Focus magazine.
All types of surgeries are present in the Charité clinic: from bariatric surgery, to neurosurgery, thoracic and vascular surgery, reconstructive surgery and organ transplantation. Charite Berlin was certified as a consulting center by the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery (DGAV).
Charité has about 55 subsidiary research institutes, including the Max Planck Institute, the Robert Koch Institute, Charité Institute of Microbiology.
Charité is the heart of health research in Berlin, as well as its driving force. Currently, the clinic is joining forces with the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) to provide the Berlin Institute for Health (BIH) with a unique approach to systemic medicine in Germany. Many innovative developments of German scientists were born in Charité.
The creation of innovations that will be used in the prevention and treatment of diseases is the goal of all the research efforts of the clinic. For this purpose, there are 3,700 researchers involved in more than 1,000 projects. All the fundamental research results are patient-oriented and quickly applied in clinical practice. Currently, Charité focuses its efforts on the following six main areas of research: neurobiology, oncology, regenerative therapy, cardiology, immunology and genetics.
Clinical trials are studies with the voluntary participation of patients who are conducted to test new drugs or evaluate innovative treatments, as well as diagnostic tests. In Charite, clinical trials are subject to strict legal requirements and are conducted in accordance with internationally accepted ethical and scientific standards. At the same time, safety and well-being of trial participants are of paramount importance.
Every year, Charite conducts more than 800 clinical trials covering wide range of specialties. Their financing is carried out by state financial organizations (BMBF, DFG, EU), funds and partners from the industry.
Charité Medical Centre provides its services in accordance with the highest standards of medicine and offers patients the widest range of procedures. The cost of treatment at the clinic remains average within the pricing policy of German medical institutions, despite its many advantages over other hospitals. The Charité Clinic is a public institution, so the prices for medical services are set by the German Ministry of Health.
The cost is primarily influenced by the type and complexity of the disease, the presence of other diseases, and the age of the patient. The price also depends on the qualifications of the attending physician — treatment by a professor is significantly more expensive than by a regular specialist. However, this does not mean that the quality of treatment depends on the choice of doctor. All doctors at the Charité Clinic are first-class specialists with extensive experience.
| Procedure | Cost |
| Specialist consultation | from €400 |
| Comprehensive laboratory tests | from €1,000 |
| MRI | from €800 |
| Ultrasound | from €300 |
| Biopsy | from €2,500 |
| Procedure | Cost |
| Hip replacement | from €18,000 |
| Aortocoronary bypass surgery | from €20,000 |
| Robotic prostatectomy | from €22,000 |
| Spinal cord tumour surgery | from €30,000 |
| Endoscopic removal of pituitary adenoma | from €25,000 |
