COVID-19 and digital care in rheumatology + DVG – German regulation as a game changer for digital applications

Within six weeks of lockdown, the number of patients rheumatologists saw decreased by almost 50%. To keep in touch with patients and uphold proper treatment, rheumatologists can leverage existing digital solutions for remote monitoring. . 

In this lecture,  the Berlin-based digital medical device manufacturer ABATON outlines how their innovative application  can support rheumatologists in times of Corona and beyond. 

Digital healthcare solutions will not only provide a rapid response to the current challenges but most likely become the “new normal” beyond the crisis: patients’ readiness for digital tools (~70%, Knitza et al. 2020) and the recent regulatory changes in Germany with the Digitale-Versorgung-Gesetz (DVG/Digital Healthcare Act) pave the way for the long-awaited fundamental change in the health system. Patients now have a legal claim for prescription and reimbursement of digital health applications that are approved by the Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM).

The pandemic reveals three key issues which are object to this talk:

1) Contactless care & remote disease monitoring are more relevant than ever but there are only limited solutions addressing the needs of rheumatologists

2) Rheumatologists typically don’t know in advance if a patient appearing in person showsCOVID-19 symptoms or not

3) Increased need for information exchange between patients and rheumatologists in this highly dynamic situation must be addressed despite limited resources 

ABATON tackles these problems with their easy-to-implement & simple-to-use digital tool and gives rheumatologists the chance to test their innovative solution for free as a gesture of solidarity in these difficult times. If you are interested, reach out via email: COVID19@abatondigital.com.

Speaker

Manuel Grahammer

ABATON GmbH, Berlin, Germany

Manuel Grahammer is CEO of ABATON GmbH. A Berlin-based company focusing on therapy optimization for patients living with chronic-inflammatory diseases by leveraging digital applications. Manuel has a broad scientific background with stations at Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, University of Edinburgh and BIDMC, Harvard Medical School in Boston. His research focus areas were immunology and infectious diseases.

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