On January 20, 2021, the German federal cabinet approved the draft law on digital modernization of healthcare and nursing care (Digital Healthcare and Nursing Care Modernization Act (DVPMG)), which was preceded by a draft bill from the German Federal Ministry of Health. The scope of the DVPMG is to proceed with the legislative work on digital solutions in the area of medical services and care, improve current techniques and digital solutions and extend these solutions to other subareas of the healthcare sector. One subject of the DVPMG, among others, is the revision and amendment of the legal regime on digital health applications (DiGAs). DiGAs were included in the German Code on the Statutory Healthcare Insurance (SGB V) by the Digital Health Care Act at the end of 2019 and can be prescribed by physicians since October 2020. The DVPMG legislator seeks to introduce similar digital applications to the home care sector. It is planned to establish the right for persons in need of care to use digital care applications (DiPAs) at the expense of the statutory home care funds.
This On the Subject provides initial insight into the new planned German regulations on DiGAs and DiPAs evaluating the current version of the draft law. Read the full article in German here.
