CompuGROUP Holding AG of Koblenz, Europe's leading e-health service provider, supports physicians and statutory health insurance funds with intelligent software and future-oriented communication solutions. The firm, an expert, experienced partner to physicians and health insurers, presented new health-care options at the regional conference of the CDU in Koblenz.
The Health-Care Fund and the reform of the fee system have imposed severe financial burdens on physicians and statutory health insurance funds alike. "New health service options" offer one way of coping with these burdens. These options focus on services provided by family doctors. All statutory health insurance funds are required to offer family physician contracts by 1 July 2009.
Within the context of this model, family doctors act as "guides" within an integrated health-care system. The problem is that many physicians are not certain which health insurers have concluded so-called selective contracts with specialists and outpatient clinics in a given region or what services (e.g. outpatient surgery) are covered by such contracts. Prescribing physicians often lack a complete overview of the various rebate agreements offered by pharmaceutical companies. This situation is further complicated by the fact that patients tend to expect efficiently coordinated treatment, detailed guidance from their doctors and, most importantly, transparency with respect to courses of treatment. All of these factors combine to pose a significant challenge for family doctors - one that cannot be met without effective IT support.
CompuGROUP provides user-friendly electronic communication tools in support of regional, interdisciplinary cooperation among physicians, hospitals and therapists. With the aid of these tools, duplicate examinations and cases of mismedication can be prevented and the length of hospital stays can be reduced. The goal is to achieve effective coordination of all medical and nursing services, thereby improving the quality of health care for patients and reducing costs for health insurers.
One such tool is the "DocPortal" information platform, which is now used by more than 60,000 physicians throughout Germany. Uwe Eibich, a member of the Board of Directors of CompuGROUP explained the background behind the development of this tool at the CDU Regional Conference: "On average, a family doctor in Germany has only 7.6 minutes in which to examine a patient, discuss symptoms and findings, recommend a course of treatment and prescribe medications, if needed. DocPortal ensures that the physician can obtain information about specific regional health services offered by health insurers during his consultation with the patient and is thus able to make the right decision on the spot." The physician can also search patient histories (many of them extending over a number of years) for symptoms, findings, diagnoses, prescriptions, etc. in an expert database developed by CompuGROUP. On the basis of this comprehensive information, Eibich explained, to identify related disorders and even detect previously undiagnosed illnesses at a very early stage. In order to ensure that this comprehensive expert information system consistently reflects the most recent scientific insights, CompuGROUP relies on the support of internal and external teams of experts representing all relevant disciplines.
"Mr Eibich's presentation was of great interest to us. Calls for new health service options are a focus of intense discussion in the political community. Thus it can only be helpful to approach this issue from a different perspective and to realize that corresponding solutions have already been developed and implemented successfully - and by a company from our own region", notes Joachim Prümm, Managing Director of the Wirtschaftsrat der CDU e.V. (Economic Council of the CDU, a non-profit organization).
The Health-Care Fund and the reform of the fee system have imposed severe financial burdens on physicians and statutory health insurance funds alike. "New health service options" offer one way of coping with these burdens. These options focus on services provided by family doctors. All statutory health insurance funds are required to offer family physician contracts by 1 July 2009.
Within the context of this model, family doctors act as "guides" within an integrated health-care system. The problem is that many physicians are not certain which health insurers have concluded so-called selective contracts with specialists and outpatient clinics in a given region or what services (e.g. outpatient surgery) are covered by such contracts. Prescribing physicians often lack a complete overview of the various rebate agreements offered by pharmaceutical companies. This situation is further complicated by the fact that patients tend to expect efficiently coordinated treatment, detailed guidance from their doctors and, most importantly, transparency with respect to courses of treatment. All of these factors combine to pose a significant challenge for family doctors - one that cannot be met without effective IT support.
CompuGROUP provides user-friendly electronic communication tools in support of regional, interdisciplinary cooperation among physicians, hospitals and therapists. With the aid of these tools, duplicate examinations and cases of mismedication can be prevented and the length of hospital stays can be reduced. The goal is to achieve effective coordination of all medical and nursing services, thereby improving the quality of health care for patients and reducing costs for health insurers.
One such tool is the "DocPortal" information platform, which is now used by more than 60,000 physicians throughout Germany. Uwe Eibich, a member of the Board of Directors of CompuGROUP explained the background behind the development of this tool at the CDU Regional Conference: "On average, a family doctor in Germany has only 7.6 minutes in which to examine a patient, discuss symptoms and findings, recommend a course of treatment and prescribe medications, if needed. DocPortal ensures that the physician can obtain information about specific regional health services offered by health insurers during his consultation with the patient and is thus able to make the right decision on the spot." The physician can also search patient histories (many of them extending over a number of years) for symptoms, findings, diagnoses, prescriptions, etc. in an expert database developed by CompuGROUP. On the basis of this comprehensive information, Eibich explained, to identify related disorders and even detect previously undiagnosed illnesses at a very early stage. In order to ensure that this comprehensive expert information system consistently reflects the most recent scientific insights, CompuGROUP relies on the support of internal and external teams of experts representing all relevant disciplines.
"Mr Eibich's presentation was of great interest to us. Calls for new health service options are a focus of intense discussion in the political community. Thus it can only be helpful to approach this issue from a different perspective and to realize that corresponding solutions have already been developed and implemented successfully - and by a company from our own region", notes Joachim Prümm, Managing Director of the Wirtschaftsrat der CDU e.V. (Economic Council of the CDU, a non-profit organization).
