Health insurance companies - E-sickness notifications: Number of certificates exceeded
The procedure with mandatory electronic sick notes for the job has established itself in 2023 from the perspective of the statutory health insurance funds. In the first year of regular operation, employers called up almost 82 million e-sickness certificates for their employees, according to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds in Berlin.
Based on data for January to November, an average of 6.8 million sickness certificates were retrieved per month - with the highest number of e-sickness certificates retrieved in November at 9.1 million.
Number of sick notes exceeded
The electronic procedure also records sickness notifications more completely than was previously possible and thus provides a more realistic view of the sickness rate, explained the association. Previously, it was generally assumed that 70 million to 80 million certificates would be issued each year. This figure has now already been exceeded in the first year of the e-procedure. The total for 2023 now forms the starting point for more precise comparisons and evaluations in future years.
Doris Pfeiffer, head of the association, said that e-sickness reporting is working. "The fact that the application has become established across the board is a major step towards the digitalization of the healthcare system." The procedure allows doctors to send sick notes directly to patients' health insurance companies - according to the figures, an average of 9.5 million sick notes were sent each month. According to the health insurance association, there could be various reasons why practices issue more certificates than employers call up. It can be assumed that some companies still require a sick note on paper.
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- The shift towards electronic sick notes in the German labor market has led to a substantial increase in the number of e-sickness certificates retrieved by employers, surpassing the initial estimated annual figure of 70-80 million.
- In Berlin, the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, Doris Pfeiffer, commended the successful implementation of e-sickness reporting, suggesting that it serves as a significant step towards digitalizing the healthcare system in Germany.
- The employer in Germany has actively utilized the e-sickness certification system, with nearly 82 million e-sickness certificates requested for employees in the first year of regular operation.
- While the number of electronic sickness certificates issued by doctors vastly outnumbers the number of e-sickness certificates retrieved by employers, some companies in Germany still opt for traditional paper-based sick notes, which could be one factor contributing to the discrepancy.
Source: www.stern.de
