"Apps on prescription" are being used more and more frequently

Digital health applications are being prescribed more frequently, but the German Association for Digital Healthcare is still concerned about regulatory hurdles.

(Image: Andrey Suslov/Shutterstock.com)

Apr 1, 2025 at 9:15 pm CEST

4 min. read

By

Marie-Claire Koch

Digital health applications (Digitale Gesundheitsapplikationen, DiGa), paid apps on prescription, are being prescribed more and more frequently. Meanwhile, 1 million DiGA prescriptions have been filled in just over four years, as the head of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), Karl Broich, recently announced. However, the German Association for Digital Healthcare (Spitzenverband Digitale Gesundheitsversorgung, SDGVS) is concerned that bureaucratic hurdles could mean that this lead could be lost. This is according to the second DiGA report from the umbrella organization.

Apart from slight fluctuations, the number of prescriptions filled for DiGA is growing by an average of around 14 percent, according to the association. In addition to seasonal fluctuations – a decline can be observed in the December months in particular –, another reason for the slump in figures is, for example, technical faults at the health insurance companies, as the association had already mentioned in the first report. The cyberattack on Bitmarck in 2023, for example, meant that many health insurance companies were unable to generate activation codes.

Bar chart showing a predominantly increasing number of unlock codes for DiGA. — The number of DiGA activation codes redeemed has grown by an average of 14 percent over the entire period (51 months) and since DiGA has been in existence.

(Image: SVDGV)

The report also shows that more women than men use DiGA. Around 75 percent of people who use DiGA are women. There could be several reasons for this; some apps are aimed exclusively at women due to gynecological topics, for example. It also states that adults of all age groups use DiGA, "with the respective proportions increasing with age up to the 50-64 age group".

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The BfArM currently lists 59 digital health applications (DiGA) – 20 percent more than in the previous year. The German Digital Health Association considers this increase and the growing number of DiGAs permanently listed in the BfArM directory to be a success. DiGAs are now regarded as a model for healthcare systems in other countries. However, there is a lack of "harmonized standards for the reimbursement of digital medical devices across Europe", which is why the association is campaigning for this. "Ultimately, the aim is to further develop the DiGA concept and anchor it as a third care sector," emphasizes the SVDGV.

The association sees the number of DiGAs initially provisionally and now permanently included in the BfArM directory as a model of success for the DiGA fast-track procedure. The fast-track procedure is a review process introduced by the BfArM to integrate DiGAs into the healthcare system within three months. According to the association, Germany has made "an important contribution to digital progress in the healthcare system of the future with this procedure, which many nations can follow and benefit from".

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Prescription for DiGA

According to the association, however, it is too complicated to obtain an activation code from the health insurance company. Although health insurance companies actually have to provide the code within two working days, it takes an average of 14 days to receive the code. Patients can be prescribed DiGA by their doctor and then receive an access code or apply for one from their health insurance provider. Instead of the paper prescription, which is intended as a temporary solution, there should be alternatives, according to the association: "Patients should have the freedom of choice to use their DiGA flexibly, digitally and without manually entering an activation code –, for example directly in the DiGA, via the e-prescription app or the ePA," the SDGVS therefore demands.