The Digital Healthcare Act – a Turning Point in the German Digitisation Strategy?

Abstract

The recently ratified Digital Healthcare Act – DVG – has paved the way, among other issues, for the prescription of health apps. The German DVG creates an entitlement to health apps for the very first time. However, this entitlement is initially limited to low-risk medical devices that have been included in the publicly accessible Register for Digital Health Applications by the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. Listing in the register is granted, if the manufacturer has submitted a health app and verified that it meets basic requirements for medical devices and data security as well as positive health care effects. It is questionable, whether the DVG will lead to sustainable improvements in future patient care. In order to pursue this question and align the DGOUCʼs digitization strategy closely with its basis, an online survey was conducted among the respective members on the DVGʼs content and its associated opportunities and risks. A total of 461 German-speaking, predominantly male, experienced and elderly physicians in leading positions took part in the survey. In this study, it was shown that the majority of the participating German orthopaedic and trauma surgeons is not familiar with the DVGʼs contents. Despite a fundamentally positive attitude towards digitization, scepticism about the use of “apps on prescription” and potential risks still prevails at present. The closing of ranks between medicine, IT and the legislature via interdisciplinary expert groups and the involvement of medical societies might be obligatory.

Smartphone and App Usage in Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery: Survey Study of Physicians Regarding Acceptance, Risks, and Future Prospects in Germany

“…However, the majority of German orthopedics and trauma surgeons, especially the decision makers, are unfamiliar with the contents of the DVG despite their basic positive interest in digitization. Skepticism currently prevails regarding apps on prescription and potentially unpredictable risks [43]. In a recent joint letter, the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians opposed the digitization plans of the Federal Minister of Health.…”

Prioritization of Quality Principles for Health Apps Using the Kano Model: Survey Study

“…Although we had initially considered an additional qualitative approach, specifically to ask the participants to directly rank the principles as they saw fit, a major reason that made us abandon this course of action was that the data presented here were part of a larger project (as mentioned above, the first part of the analysis of the acquired data is already published [ 28 ]), and it was decided by the team that an additional (sorting) questionnaire would be too much of a burden for those participating in the survey. Of the two alternatives for designing the part of the survey presented here (ie, continuing to rely on the Kano model or using the qualitative sorting approach), the choice ultimately fell on Kano.…”

“…Participants were presented with questions about their familiarity with this act, their opinions about its coverage, and whether they were at all considering making use of the possibility to prescribe health apps based on the processes specified in the DVG. The data corresponding to this part of the survey were previously evaluated and published [ 28 ].…”

Prostate cancer follow-up costs in Germany from 2000 to 2015

“…Consequently, follow-ups might be (partly) replaced or supplemented by specialist nurses, telephone consultation, or digital applications. Potential reimbursement of digital applications under Digital Healthcare Act (DVG), ratified in 2020, provides the conceptual framework in Germany [53]. While Germany may still lack the digital literacy and infrastructure for e-oncology [54], such applications might improve physician-patient relations, smoothen financial burdens faced by patients and providers, and erase inequalities in care quality and access by decreasing opportunity and travel costs for patients and providers.…”