By the end of 2025, 80 per cent of the users of an electronic patient record (ePA) who are undergoing medication treatment are to have a digital medication overview. And by the end of 2026, 300 research projects with health data are to be realised by the new Research Data Centre Health.
These are concrete goals of a digitalisation strategy for health and care presented by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. The strategy was developed by the Federal Ministry of Health over several months together with patient representatives and stakeholders in the health care system. It is intended to provide orientation on how care processes, data use and technologies must develop further by the end of the decade in order to improve health care. Two concrete legislative projects follow this idea: the Digital Act, which improves everyday treatment with digital solutions. And the Health Data Use Act, which opens up health data for research.
The German Medical Technology Association (BVMed) welcomes the fact that the digital strategy presented by the Federal Minister of Health and the references to the announced Health Data Usage Act offer good approaches for research and development of medical technologies.
The medical technology association is particularly positive about the improved access to healthcare data for research-based companies as well as a uniform interpretation of national and European data protection law. "It is also good that with the extension of digital health applications (DiGA) to class IIb medical devices, an old demand of BVMed is to be implemented," said Managing Director Marc-Pierre Möll.
The measures must now be implemented quickly in order to provide impetus for a new innovation dynamic, the association demands. The same applies to the statutory implant register, which must also be implemented for hip and knee replacements as soon as possible, taking into account the preliminary work of the endoprosthesis register. In addition, the association misses a structured process for the adequate integration of medical aid service providers and home care providers into the digital infrastructure.