Telemedicine – services and current barriers
At the beginning of this year, the so called „eArztbrief“(electronic physician’s letter) was registered in the EBM (Physicians’ Fee Schedule) and has been billable since then. Video appointments with the physician (EBM No. 01439 and 01450) and teleconsultations (EBM No. 34800 et seq. were the telemedicine services which followed and which were registered in the EBM in spring this year. Both services are only applicable in specific situations, e.g. for postoperative monitoring or complex issues, which require a second opinion.
For the settlement of the telemedicine service specific technical requirements must be met. This includes an electronic signature with the electronic health professional card and a peer-to-peer connection. The suppliers of the services are responsible for the technical implementation and must prove the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data. To provide evidence the supplier should obtain certificates of accredited bodies indicating the information security, data protection and contents. This must be proven by the supplier for every medical practice against the KVs (Regional Associations of SHI-Accredited Physicians).
Now - three months after the registration of the new EBM Numbers of the teleconsultation – there is no supplier for the teleconsultation services available and with it the implementation and settlement have yet to be realized…
You can read more about this topic here: http://www.aerztezeitung.de/praxis_wirtschaft/aerztliche_verguetung/article/938307/telekonsil-noch-keinen-einzigen-anbieter-gibt.html?cm_mmc=Newsletter-_-Newsletter-C-_-20170621-_-Abrechnung+%2f+%c3%84rztliche+Verg%c3%bctung