Tonya Stewart

Some see the smart use of tech as a solution to the current healthcare worker shortfall. But, according to Dr Amy Compton-Phillips, it’s not quite that simple.

Research conducted last year by consulting company Roland Berger predicts that the German digital health market volume will grow exponentially in coming years. The sector could well be worth €38 billion by 2025, said Julia Pietsch, digital health expert at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI). GTAI is the economic development agency for the Federal Republic of Germany that recently hosted a webinar, 'International Market Insights: Germany – Digital Care Act, Market Trends & Opportunities', that also included Julia Hagen, director of regulation and politics at the German Ministry of Health’s health innovation hub.  Legislative changes made in the recent Digital Care Act have made digital health applications (so-called DIGAs) an enticing market, Pietsch added. Several experts also pointed out that with the largest elderly population in Europe and the second largest in the world – and high numbers of people with chronic and multiple diseases needing home and/or inpatient care – Germany has needed creative health tech solutions. FAST TRACK TO MARKET The Digital Care Act establishes “a completely new framework” that enables doctors to prescribe medical apps and other applications, paid for by public health insurance, said Hagen, while It also fast tracked applications into standard care. Doctors in Germany are set to prescribe the first digital health applications, Hagen explained, with patients likely to benefit as early as this August or September. Apps may also be prescribed to patients when they are discharged from hospital. Hagen also mentioned an innovation fund set up in Germany in 2016 to support new and innovative methods of care and care research projects not yet part of standard or statutory care. The initiative, she said, was due to be extended until 2024, with €200 million available per year. “Health insurance companies can support need-based and patient-oriented development of digital innovation,” explained Pietsch, underscoring the business opportunities entailed for health tech innovators. EASIER ACCESS TO RESEARCH DATA The new legislation, Pietsch added, meant not only that every insured member in Germany would have access to an electronic health record by 2021 (a high proportion of the population since Germany has mandatory health insurance), but that teleconsultations would also be encouraged. Moreover, researchers would have better access to patient data. “With the Act, public health insurance companies will have to send anonymised member demographics and health data to a central database, and research organisations and universities can then request that data for research purposes,” Pietsch said. Find out more in the full recording of the webinar, available here.

Experts from the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US shed light on the “information challenge” faced by health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The four-year project will work on technology to enable patients to regain control of limbs and researchers said it could ultimately be applied other cases, notably epilepsy and Parkinson’s.

While a recent review showed Babylon’s GP at Hand smartphone app improved care access, the plans to expand its roll-out were prohibited by officials.

UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced a new NHS app that will put patients in control of their healthcare and will be available to everyone in England in December 2018. The new NHS app, which was a key feature of Hunt’s speech to NHS Expo last year, will give patients access to their GP record, enable them to order repeat prescriptions, and access 111 online. Patients will also be able to use the app to manage long-term conditions, and state their data sharing, organ donation and end of life care preferences. Hunt said: “I want this innovation to mark the death-knell of the 8am scramble for GP appointments that infuriates so many patients.” He told the BBC: “I hope it will save a lot of time for GPs so they have more time with their complex patients.” The app has been developed by NHS Digital and NHS England, and will be available through the Apple App Store or Google Play. Once downloaded, users will sign up for an NHS account to access the services. “The NHS app is a world-first which will put patients firmly in the driving seat and revolutionise the way we access health services,” Hunt added, saying it was time to “unleash the power of technology to transform everyday life for patients” in the NHS’ 70th year. NHS England National Director of Operations and Information Matthew Swindells said: “The new app will put the NHS into the pocket of everyone in England but it is just one step on the journey. We are also developing an NHS Apps Library and putting free NHS Wi-Fi in GP surgeries and hospitals. NHS Digital Chief Executive Sarah Wilkinson said: "We all know that demand for precious NHS services is escalating, and for a large portion of the population digital channels are a preferred means of access to data and services, so this is an opportunity to provide the easier access people want and relieve some burden from front-line providers." Beta testing for the app is due to start in September, with the launch expected in December.

Sarah Wilkinson, CEO of NHS Digital, the national body tasked with helping digitise the NHS and social care in the UK, has been awarded Chief Digital Officer 2017 by the CDO Club, the world’s largest community of C-suite digital and data leaders.