Archive:
Dr. Maximilian Gaßner, President of the Federal Insurance Office (BVA) in the MVF cover interview
01.10.2011
Outpatient care for CHD patients with elevated cholesterol levels
01.10.2011
The federal government is planning (as it does annually) a reform of the fifth book of the Social Code. Among other things, the plan for 2011 is to revise the planning of needs for contracted physicians. Regional working groups will be formed for this purpose. They will be composed of local government representatives, decision-makers from health insurance funds, associations of statutory health insurance physicians, medical associations, hospital operators, and patient representatives. One of the key goals of the proposed new regulations is […]
16.04.2011
Many scientific innovations are developed in the field of basic research and then, based on the results of in-vitro research, are so solidly processed through small animal experiments that the path to applying these processes to humans is cleared. Further clinical research deals with measuring the effect of the therapeutic procedure and the side effects and at the same time lays the foundation for the approval procedures of the relevant authorities in North America and Europe. In order to be able to measure the effectiveness of therapeutic procedures, special patient groups are often put together in order to measure the effect of the new procedure/medication on a placebo procedure or on other, often older, medications or medical procedures/procedures in prospective randomized studies. A fundamental bias in these studies is often a strictly selected patient population that only slightly corresponds to the overall “real world” population addressed under field conditions.
07.02.2011
Essentially, health insurance companies could be extremely exciting marketing organizations. There are hardly any companies in other industries that fundamentally offer a similar range of product options, given the number of over 15,000 ICDs. However, one must first adopt the perspective of care management to even recognize these opportunities. The possibility and necessity for this are demonstrated by […]
16.12.2010
Dr. Axel Munte, outgoing CEO of KV Bayern, in the MVF cover interview
16.12.2010
Since 2003, health insurance companies have been able to conclude individual discount agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Due to a change in the legal situation, since the beginning of 2009, drug discount contracts in the form of active ingredient contracts have had to be advertised across Europe if the turnover covered by this exceeds 193,000 euros. The change from freely negotiated so-called portfolio contracts to tenders has led to various problems in the reality of supply. This article examines the topic from different perspectives and provides information on how, with the involvement of all those involved, discount agreements can be integrated smoothly into the (standard) supply landscape.
17.10.2010
Since the legislator activated the option of drug discount contracts in the GKV Competition Strengthening Act (April 2007), corresponding discount contracts in the generic market segment have developed into a successful model. On the other hand, the objections repeatedly raised by interested parties, in particular pharmaceutical companies, with regard to patient compliance or alleged market share losses of pharmaceutical SMEs, stand up to neither public opinion nor empirical scrutiny. Discount agreements form an efficient and forward-looking competitive instrument between statutory health insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry.
17.10.2010
The IQWiG report on the benefits of self-monitoring of blood sugar and its possible consequences