Health - Health insurance: Benefits of apps on prescription often questionable
Manufacturers of clinically prescribed apps cannot often demonstrate the benefits of their applications according to statements from the Techniker Health Insurance (TK). While more and more unlock codes for so-called Digital Health Applications have been issued in the past twelve months, there is still a need for optimization in their implementation. "Two thirds of the previously obtained apps could not prove their effectiveness within the first year," said Sabrina Jacob from the TK State Representative Office in Hanover. For a large part of the apps, there are no studies available at the start for proving usage.
Digital Health Applications can be downloaded onto a smartphone by patients and patients and are intended to help monitor and treat certain diseases better. Since the end of 2020, doctors and psychotherapists have been able to prescribe them on prescription. In Niedersachsen, 12,128 unlock codes have been issued to insured persons of the Techniker Health Insurance for these apps. The costs for such an app averaged 418 Euro in 2020, 626 Euro in 2023. "The problematic thing is that manufacturers can freely set prices in the first year of reimbursement. This leads to the health insurance fund paying for applications whose effectiveness has not been sufficiently proven," Jacob said.
Digital Health Applications are most frequently prescribed for mental health, against obesity and diabetes, and for knee and back pain. The average age of users and users is 45 years old according to the Techniker Health Insurance. More than two thirds of them are women.
- Despite the issue of proving effectiveness within the first year for many clinically prescribed apps, such as those from TKK, the number of unlock codes issued by Techniker Health Insurance in Lower Saxony has increased significantly.
- In the realm of Health Insurance, both patients in Hanover and elsewhere can utilize apps to monitor and treat various illnesses, like knee and back pain, obesity, diabetes, and mental health issues, with the likes of TC Digital Health Applications being among the options.
- As part of their efforts to optimize the implementation of Digital Health Applications, the Techniker Health Insurance in Lower Saxony is encouraging more research and studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of these apps, which currently often lack such proof.
- Following the shift in policy in late 2020, physicians and psychotherapists in Lower Saxony have been prescribing Health apps, such as TKK's, using prescriptions, and some popular recipes for these apps can be found on various Health apps and websites, like the TC app.
