On 10 July 2019, the Federal Cabinet approved Health Minister Spahn’s draft for the “Act for Better Care through Digitalization and Innovation” (Digital Care Act – DVG). The law, which is due to have its first reading in the Bundestag in September 2019, contains a wide range of measures to digitalize the healthcare system in Germany. These include the possibility of doctors prescribing health apps and the assumption of costs by health insurance companies; the creation of a mandatory digital network for the healthcare sector to make it easier for patients to use digital services; the promotion of video consultations; the increased digitization of documents in the healthcare sector and the extension of the innovation fund until 2024 to promote innovative care approaches. In contrast, the electronic patient file is not part of the DVG, but is anchored in a separate data protection law. With this law, the federal government is driving forward efforts to ensure better healthcare through digitalization and innovation.
