Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview Study
BackgroundIn 2019, Germany launched the Digital Healthcare Act. The reform enables physicians to prescribe health apps as treatments to their statutory-insured patients. ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the extent to which the integration of health apps into standar...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2023-05-01
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Series: | JMIR Human Factors |
Online Access: | https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2023/1/e42186 |
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author | Alexandra Heidel Christian Hagist Stefan Spinler Michael Schoeneberger |
author_facet | Alexandra Heidel Christian Hagist Stefan Spinler Michael Schoeneberger |
author_sort | Alexandra Heidel |
collection | DOAJ |
description |
BackgroundIn 2019, Germany launched the Digital Healthcare Act. The reform enables physicians to prescribe health apps as treatments to their statutory-insured patients.
ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the extent to which the integration of health apps into standard care could be considered beneficial and which aspects of the regulation could still be improved.
MethodsWe conducted a semistructured interview study with 23 stakeholders in Germany and analyzed them thematically. We used descriptive coding for the first-order codes and pattern coding for the second-order codes.
ResultsWe created 79 first-order codes and 9 second-order codes following the interview study. Most stakeholders argued that the option of prescribing health apps could improve treatment quality.
ConclusionsThe inclusion of health apps into German standard care could improve the quality of treatment by expanding treatment portfolios. The educational elements of the apps might additionally lead to more patient emancipation through a better understanding of personal conditions. Location and time flexibility are the biggest advantages of the new technologies, but they also raise the most significant concerns for stakeholders because app use requires personal initiative and self-motivation. Overall, stakeholders agree that the Digital Healthcare Act has the potential to remove dust from the German health care system. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:40:10Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-405fe81720a44112a42b00186650d491 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2292-9495 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:40:10Z |
publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
publisher | JMIR Publications |
record_format | Article |
series | JMIR Human Factors |
spelling | doaj.art-405fe81720a44112a42b00186650d4912023-08-28T23:52:01ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Human Factors2292-94952023-05-0110e4218610.2196/42186Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview StudyAlexandra Heidelhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7374-7725Christian Hagisthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6322-3178Stefan Spinlerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2669-4728Michael Schoenebergerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6678-423X BackgroundIn 2019, Germany launched the Digital Healthcare Act. The reform enables physicians to prescribe health apps as treatments to their statutory-insured patients. ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the extent to which the integration of health apps into standard care could be considered beneficial and which aspects of the regulation could still be improved. MethodsWe conducted a semistructured interview study with 23 stakeholders in Germany and analyzed them thematically. We used descriptive coding for the first-order codes and pattern coding for the second-order codes. ResultsWe created 79 first-order codes and 9 second-order codes following the interview study. Most stakeholders argued that the option of prescribing health apps could improve treatment quality. ConclusionsThe inclusion of health apps into German standard care could improve the quality of treatment by expanding treatment portfolios. The educational elements of the apps might additionally lead to more patient emancipation through a better understanding of personal conditions. Location and time flexibility are the biggest advantages of the new technologies, but they also raise the most significant concerns for stakeholders because app use requires personal initiative and self-motivation. Overall, stakeholders agree that the Digital Healthcare Act has the potential to remove dust from the German health care system.https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2023/1/e42186 |
spellingShingle | Alexandra Heidel Christian Hagist Stefan Spinler Michael Schoeneberger Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview Study JMIR Human Factors |
title | Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview Study |
title_full | Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview Study |
title_fullStr | Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview Study |
title_short | Removing Dust From the German Health Care System by Introducing Health Apps Into Standard Care: Semistructured Interview Study |
title_sort | removing dust from the german health care system by introducing health apps into standard care semistructured interview study |
url | https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2023/1/e42186 |
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