Federal government wants to facilitate introduction of digital care applications

The German government attaches great importance to "ensuring that high-quality digital care applications (DiPA) are used in the care of people in need of care". This was emphasized by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) in a recently published answer to a question from the FDP parliamentary group. According to this, care apps can help to "reduce impairments in the independence or abilities of people in need of care".

The Federal Cabinet paved the way for care apps as early as 2021 with a draft law "on the digital modernization of care and nursing". According to the bill, care apps should help people to stabilize their state of health through exercises and training or to reduce the risk of falls. However, more than two years after an official DiPA directory was set up, it is still empty – while digital health applications (DiGA) have long been available as apps on prescription in quite large numbers and are actively used.

The government explains this development as follows : "In practice, it is seen as a challenge to refinance the studies to prove the nursing benefits of a DiPA." The costs incurred by manufacturers for the necessary studies could not be refinanced due to the capped benefit amount of 53 euros, including supplementary support services. To counter this, there have been calls for a trial year for DiPA similar to DiGA. The government took up this concern "in a modified form" with its draft for a care competence law in December.

Government wants to take countermeasures

The initiative provides for the total amount available for care apps and supplementary support services to be increased to up to 70 euros per month. The draft also states that under current law, entitlement to a DiPA only arises when it is entered in the relevant register. The remuneration negotiations between manufacturers and payers take place afterwards. This has the considerable disadvantage that the final price is not fixed until these negotiations are concluded. Both processes should therefore run in parallel in the future. It is no longer expected that the draft will be passed by the Bundestag before the new elections. The BMG therefore recommends that the proposal be taken up again in the next legislature.

In general, there are signs that health apps are of little help to users. After several years of experience with the prescription of DiGA, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV) has repeatedly expressed its disillusionment with the results to date. For the majority of apps on prescription, "no positive effects on care could be proven" after inclusion in the DiGA directory. The BMG now emphasizes: "In the view of the Federal Government, proof of the nursing benefit is essential for financing the DiPA from the solidarity community of those insured with long-term care insurance in the future." It therefore held expert discussions with the stakeholders concerned at the beginning of 2024 to develop the outlined solution.

(akn)