As we discussed earlier this summer, the Digital Healthcare Act (DVG) aims to create a solid reimbursement pathway for digital health solutions in the German healthcare market. BfArM, the body that determines which solution will be enlisted in the DiGA registry, opened its application portal in May, and it is expected to publish the first application results later this month.
Meanwhile, the umbrella association for digital healthcare acts (Spitzenverband Digitale Gesundheitsversorgung) has disclosed some of the first companies that applied for inclusion in the DiGA registry. This list is currently incomplete and it is possible that other companies have or will apply for registration soon. Still, some initial findings can be observed:
Germany/DACH-based companies are the first movers: All of the 15 listed solutions are based in Germany. Apart from the fact that language barriers do not exist, these solutions are mostly supported by evidence conducted in Germany, which is one of the key requirements of the Digital Health Solution Ordinance (DiGAV).
The majority of the DiGA solutions will focus on disease management and/or treatment: Almost all of the solutions either aid the management of chronic conditions, such as diabetes and mental health, or the treatment of conditions that can be managed without direct physician involvement, such as obesity, sleeping disorders, and migraines. Two solutions, ADA Health and Lindera, focus on the identification of conditions suffered by patients and the detection of potential falls, respectively. Only one solution, SciTIM, is a workflow improvement tool that seamlessly integrates various types of data in doctor and hospital information systems.
Mental health and chronic conditions are in the spotlight: Six of the 15 disclosed solutions target stress, depression, alcoholism, sleep disorders, migraines. Five of them focus on chronic conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, body pain.
As mentioned earlier, these findings are based on a small fraction of the applicants. As more and more information is published, these insights may change. Centivis will be monitoring the updates.
Sources: https://www.kbv.de/html/1150_47664.php https://digitalversorgt.de/diga-verzeichnis/