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The comparison of the daily doses (DDD) prescribed nationwide by the statutory health insurance (SHI) from 2019 and 2020 shows that certain medical specialty groups are losers in the Corona crisis. In order to evaluate the annual trend, the GKV has correlated the DDD by the specialist group with gross sales and percentage changes.

According to this, the course of the year 2020 is subject to strong fluctuations in the prescription process, which means that there are months in which many drugs were prescribed and in others less to little. The peak month in 2020 was March, as the month with the highest turnover in drug prescriptions.

However, the development also has to be assessed in terms of specific specialist groups. While psychiatrists were among the absolute top performers with a plus of 13 percent of gross sales – neurologists and gastroenterologists were in second and third place with 7.7 percent and 6.9 percent respectively – pediatricians with a minus of 6.2 percent and ENT doctors with a minus of 3.3 percent had to record slumps in the daily doses prescribed nationwide.

By comparing the DDD, 2019 versus 2020, the SHI can only speculate that the decline is due to contact restrictions. Thus, the incidence of infections in Germany has also declined. In addition, fewer insured persons would have made use of a consultation with a local doctor. 

The jump in prescriptions by psychiatrists can perhaps best be explained by virus containment measures because N3 pack sizes were prescribed the most during this period. Patients probably wanted to be on the safe side and were hoarding purchases.

Source: www.gkv-90prozent.de