New rheumatism contract starts at TK

14.11.2019 17:00

Two become one: The contracts between the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) and the Professional Association of German Rheumatologists (BDRh) on medicines and special care for rheumatism will be merged in the future. This merger creates a uniform contract with RheumaOne.

“RheumaOne not only reduces the organizational effort for doctors, the focus is primarily on improving the care of patients with chronic inflammatory forms of rheumatism,” says Thomas Ballast, deputy chairman of the TK board. Dr. Edmund Edelmann, board member of the BDRh, adds: “We are pleased to be taking the next step together with the TK, which has been separately promoting quality in rheumatism care for a long time. Proven care offerings that were previously regionally limited can now be used in other regions.” According to figures from the BDRh, around 1.5 million people in Germany suffer from rheumatism.

According to TK, the newly designed contract consists of four modules. One module deals with supporting young rheumatism patients into adult care. With the “Care Landscape” module, insured people benefit from early diagnosis. The “Medicines” module is intended to improve the quality and safety of rheumatism therapy and at the same time make it more economical. 45 health insurance companies have already joined the current drug contract.

Finally, the fourth module is aimed at those insured by TK with a special advisory service. Rheumatism patients can use the TK drug coach to obtain advice from drug experts about their symptoms in addition to medical treatment. The German Pharmacists Association (DAV) is also involved as a partner in this advisory service. “In medication discussions, pharmacists solve individual medication-related problems on site. This improves patient safety when using medication and adherence to therapy,” says DAV Chairman Fritz Becker.