The Therapiezentrum chronischer Schmerz (TCS) in Vienna’s Rabenhof has taken on around 800 new patients since it opened about a year ago. The City of Vienna, the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) and the Vinzenz Gruppe say the centre closes a gap in care and relieves the pain clinics of Vienna’s hospitals. Chronic pain affects around 1.8 million people in Austria.
A new kind of service
The Herz-Jesu Krankenhaus Wien opened the TCS a year ago as a service that was new for Austria. It did so together with the Vienna Health Fund and the social insurance institutions. Patients register through the 1450 health advice line, and treatment is covered by the e-Card. Peter Hacker, city councillor for social affairs, health and sport, said the centre has noticeably expanded pain treatment alongside the pain clinics of the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund and AKH Wien.
How the treatment works
Specialist doctors, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians and administrative staff work closely together at the centre. Two hours per patient are set aside for the initial medical consultation and the psychological assessment. Therapy is outpatient, either individually or in small groups. Manfred Greher, medical director of the Herz-Jesu Krankenhaus and head of the TCS, said the aim is to reduce pain and get people moving again, while complete freedom from pain is not always possible. One of the first patients, a pensioner who had suffered facial pain for 18 years, learned methods such as biofeedback and autogenic training. With daily exercises he now avoids many pain attacks. Andreas Huss, chair of the ÖGK administrative board, said the TCS provides care outside the acute hospitals.
First-year figures
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| New patients (opening to end of October 2026) | around 800 |
| Treatments | around 8,000 |
| Time for initial assessment | two hours per patient |
Funding and next steps
A funding agreement with the City of Vienna and social insurance runs for now until autumn 2027. Experience gathered at the TCS will feed into further planning of care services. Under the Austrian Structural Plan for Health, every federal state is to give patients tiered access to pain therapy. The Herz-Jesu Krankenhaus is an orthopaedic specialist clinic in Vienna’s 3rd district that cares for around 50,000 patients a year. It is one of five hospitals of the Vinzenz Kliniken Wien.