ARTICLE SUMMARY:
German insurers must now reimburse qualifying digital health apps, and from 2021, all patient records must be digitalized. The new programs present opportunities, and challenges, to medtech firms, payors, and other healthcare stakeholders in Germany and Europe-wide.
Germany has been slow to go digital. Data privacy concerns and a patchwork of different regional privacy laws is one reason; another is that Europe’s largest healthcare market is highly fragmented, with over 150 statutory health insurers (Krankenkasse) across the country. But last November, things began to accelerate.
