The telemedicine provider Teleclinic, a subsidiary of the Swiss Zur Rose Group, was the first provider of online consultation hours to receive certification from the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) at the end of May in Germany, allowing patients to have video consultation hours fully paid for by the statutory health insurance (GKV). The first hurdle that had to be overcome was this KBV certification, which focuses primarily on safety-related aspects. Teleclinic is now being followed by the Swedish start-up Kry, which has thus also managed to establish telemedicine as part of standard care, as both those insured with statutory health insurance and those insured with private health insurance can now use the service of Kry partner doctors free of charge. The certification of the online consultation hours and the video chat with regard to the KBV billing was taken over by TÜV Informationstechnik GmbH (TÜViT), so that the entire documentation of patient data and billing can be carried out smoothly, which is also another hurdle in the system, says founder and managing director of Teleclinic, Katharina Jünger, who also regards the process of patient admission as the third important and critical aspect. This is because the patient can simply hand in his or her insurance card at the local doctor’s surgery. In video consultation hours this is not so easy. After all, the patient to be treated is not physically present, so in future, his or her insurance details will be entered into a mask by the patient himself or herself. By comparing the data with the simultaneous presentation of the photo in the camera before the actual telemedical treatment, it is checked whether the identity of the patient is identical. The physician then bills the video consultation hour for all health insurance companies according to the Gebührenordnung für Ärzte (GOÄ) and the Einheitlicher Bewertungsmaßstab (EBM) and can thus increase the earning potential of his practice by increasing utilization and efficiency. Daniel Schneider, head of Kry Germany, is very satisfied because this could soon mean the complete breakthrough of telemedicine.
