Germany’s statutory health insurers are promoting a patient‑management app. Oliver Blatt, chairman of the GKV‑Spitzenverband, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (Wednesday edition) that the association “advocates for digitally‑supported management”. He noted that Germany has many more doctor‑patient contacts compared with the EU, which creates an obvious challenge and contributes to the long wait times for specialist appointments.
Blatt sees an app as a potential solution. “Through a digital tool-such as an insurer’s app-a patient can be assessed, and based on the reported symptoms receive a valid recommendation” he explained. This would help determine whether a medical visit is truly necessary or if, for example, two days of bed rest would suffice.
The association’s chief believes that office‑based doctors have a responsibility in this system. “For such a system to work and be accepted, appointments would have to be scheduled through it” he said. A prerequisite, he added, is that all doctors report a substantial portion of their appointments to the forthcoming nationwide appointment register. That register would allocate capacities not preferentially to private or statutory insured patients, but solely according to the urgency of treatment.
Blatt added that coordination and digitalisation could be game‑changers. “With electronic referrals from general practitioners to specialists, the specialist would already have the initial diagnosis, so there would be no need to start from scratch with the patient”.
