On the initiative of the German software developer IT-Labs, a panel of experts recently discussed the significance of e-prescribing for the homecare and aids industry. The most important finding was that launching pilot projects now can bring benefits for the medical aids industry in terms of quality standards later on.
Assessments of the benefits for healthcare providers varied. Juliane Pohl, Head of Outpatient Healthcare at BVMed, emphasized the diversity of service providers in the field of medical aids, which is why the e-prescription will understandably not be introduced until 2026 – but then it can lead to leaner processes in the industry. However, Andreas Lipécz, a physician from Nuremberg, criticized the fact that too little consideration is given to workflows in practices for issuing the e-prescription and e-prescription. Overall, the experts agreed that the e-prescription is significantly more complex and complicated to execute than the e-prescription. Different contracts between health insurers and service providers only reinforce this. Some service providers see a further problem in the direct forwarding of prescriptions to the health insurer, which particularly affects the area of rehabilitation clinics.
Mark Langguth, a former gematik employee and consultant, criticized the „excessive regulation“ in the design of the electronic patient file. Instead, according to Langguth, the benefits for patients should be in the foreground and taken into account in the further development of digital concepts. Ralf König, Director Pharmacy at the Health Innovation Hub of the German Federal Ministry of Health, added that in addition to the patient perspective, the technical and professional processes on site must also be considered. Pilot projects are therefore ideal for integrating analog workflows from practice into digital concepts at an early stage.
Source: www.gesundheitsprofi.de