The medical profession in Germany tends to exercise restraint in prescribing health apps, as statisticians from the US service provider Iqvia recently found out. According to the analysis „The view of general practitioners in Germany on the COVID 19 crisis and the importance of digital health“, 40 percent of German doctors do not support the prescription of apps. According to the survey, 28 percent named concerns about the medical benefits, while 17 percent have little or no confidence in data protection guidelines. Just as many also lack quality criteria. For the Iqvia survey, a total of 140 general practitioners and specialists were asked about their experiences and attitudes to telemedicine applications and achievements as well as prescribable health apps. The majority of those surveyed, however, believe that digital expansion will also advance in medical practices and influence them. This is shown by the highly advanced developments of the electronic prescription (e-prescription), the digital patient record (ePA) and the electronic medication plan, all important projects that doctors named first. 47 percent of the physicians surveyed also expect telemedicine applications to continue beyond the corona pandemic. These will then become even more relevant in the daily practice routine. More than two-thirds of the physicians in private practice also expect that the AHA rules of protection and hygiene will continue to influence the daily practice routine after the crisis and will thus be sustained.
Source: Ärzteblatt