Germany

The German Society for Neurology (DGN) has published a new version of the S1 guideline "Syncope." It is valid until January 2025.

The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published the final report, in which it was studied whether wearing a lower jaw protrusion splint (Unterkieferprotrusionsschiene, UPS) is beneficial for obstructive sleep apnea. IQWiG issued the preliminary report in October 2019.

The application portal for inclusion in the directory of digital health apps (DiGA) at the Federal Office for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) has been online since May 27, 2020. The application, which can be submitted only electronically, is the first step for the respective health app to be reimbursed in the future as part of regular care.

On behalf of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has researched current evidence-based guidelines on the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), summarized their recommendations and checked the need for updates for the COPD disease management program (DMP).

The German Society for Neurology (DGN) has released a new version of the S1 guideline "Diagnostics and therapy of neurogenic bladder disorders." It is valid until January 2025.

On May 7, 2020, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) announced that antibodies testing for COVID-19 will be reimbursement. The findings of the test must be communicated within 24 hours.

The corresponding decision by the (the Federal Joint Committee) of January 16, 2020, was published in the Federal Gazette and came into force on April 9, 2020.

Since January 1, 2020, the nursing staff costs of the hospitals are excluded from the DRG case flat rates and financed in parallel to the DRG case flat rates using a hospital-specific care budget based on the principle of cost coverage.

The revised EBM (German Uniform Evaluation Standard) catalog came into force on April 1, 2020. MTRC has compiled the selection of the most significant changes.

On behalf of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) investigated whether a test of newborns for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in Germany would make sense. The affected children benefit from early diagnosis as this enables an earlier start of therapy.

The revised EBM (German Uniform Evaluation Standard) comes into force on April 1, 2020. Among others, the amendments made concern the billing of the services within the framework of early detection of cervical cancer. Also, the new fee order item (GOP) for the human papillomaviruses (HPV) genotyping service was added.

Patients with a newly diagnosed glioblastoma will have an opportunity to benefit from the therapy with tumor-treating fields (TTF) at the expense of statutory health insurance. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) decided on March 20, 2020, the details concerning the indications and the quality assurance measures that will apply when prescribing this outpatient treatment method.