After Health Minister Spahn ‘s draft was passed by the Federal Cabinet in July, the Bundestag passed the “Act for Better Care through Digitalization and Innovation” (Digital Care Act – DVG) in its second and third readings on 7 November. The law contains a large number of regulations aimed at improving the use of digital applications in the healthcare sector. For example, people with statutory health insurance will be entitled to digital healthcare applications in future, video consultations will be made easier and pharmacies and hospitals will have to connect to the telematics infrastructure, financed by the health insurance funds, so that patients can use additional digital services in future and the protection of sensitive healthcare data is improved. The law is scheduled to come into force in January 2020.
