Recipe at the touch of a button - Health apps on prescription are hardly catching on
A app can help people fall asleep with soft sounds or record the blood pressure of people with heart problems: Software prescribed by doctors is becoming more common on the smartphones of patients in Baden-Württemberg. However, according to the latest Barmer Doctor Report, the excitement about these so-called health apps on prescription in Baden-Württemberg is limited. "These apps on prescription have not yet established themselves in Baden-Württemberg," it says in the report. They have not improved care in medically structurally weak regions nor replaced other treatment methods.
The prescription data for the years 2020 to 2022 were evaluated and scaled to the total population, as the Barmer reports. In this period, approximately 43,000 digital health applications (DiGA) were prescribed in Baden-Württemberg. However, the number of annual doctor contacts was reported to be over 10 million.
App for Tinnitus and Depression
DiGAs can be prescribed or requested by patients since autumn 2020, with the health insurance covering the costs – on average, around €370 according to Barmer. Standardly, a prescription lasts for three months. The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, which grants approval, has currently released over 60 apps that are intended to help with conditions such as Tinnitus, Depression, or Circulatory Diseases. For approval, the manufacturer must provide evidence of effectiveness.
The number of prescribed DiGAs in Baden-Württemberg has more than doubled between 2021 and 2022. "If I look at the overall result and consider the potential that some apps have shown, I have to say that the DiGAs have fallen short of expectations," said Winfried Ploetz, the regional manager of Barmer in Baden-Württemberg.
In a nationwide comparison of the 16 federal states, Baden-Württemberg ranks tenth in the report. While 249 prescriptions per 100,000 inhabitants were registered here, for example, it was 337 and 328 DiGA prescriptions in the leading states, Berlin and Hamburg.
Most health apps were prescribed in connection with Adiposity Disorders, followed by disorders of the locomotor system, Tinnitus, Depression, and Sleep and Anxiety Disorders, according to the Krankenkasse survey. The study also showed that both therapists and therapists as well as patients and patients often knew little about the apps or that the digital helpers had not met their expectations. The survey revealed that one-third (33.2%) of therapists felt poorly or very poorly informed. Only about a quarter (26%) reported being well or very well informed. To promote the concept of prescription apps, more clarification work is needed in the practices, Ploetz said.
Many patients prematurely abandon app usage
In the DiGA directory, over 60 apps are currently offered. On average, the insurances paid €367 for a 90-day application period, said Ploetz. Given the short usage periods reported in the survey, he called for a two-week test period.
- Despite the growing use of software for tracking blood pressure in Germany, particularly in Baden-Württemberg, the report from Barmer indicates that these health apps have not significantly improved care in areas with weak medical structures.
- The report also mentions that the prescription of digital health applications (DiGAs) in Baden-Württemberg, including those for blood pressure monitoring, has more than doubled between 2021 and 2022.
- Winfried Ploetz, the regional manager of Barmer in Stuttgart, expressed disappointment that the DiGAs, including blood pressure monitoring apps, have not met expectations, considering their potential.
- Many patients, according to the survey, abandon the use of these apps prematurely, which Ploetz suggested could be addressed by introducing a two-week trial period for the DiGAs.
- Some of the conditions that the federally approved DiGAs aim to help manage include circulatory diseases, tinnitus, and depression, as well as adiposity disorders and sleep and anxiety disorders.
- Unfortunately, both therapists and patients often lack sufficient information about these health apps, with only about a quarter reporting being well or very well informed, according to the survey.
