Archive:
For years it has been reported worldwide that antibiotics from the fluoroquinolones group are associated with serious and sometimes irreversible risks for patients. In comparison, these antibiotics in particular are prescribed very frequently in Germany. According to calculations by the AOK Scientific Institute (WIdO) based on prescription data from AOK insured persons, these drugs were prescribed to 3.3 million patients in Germany in 2018 alone - still too often given the fact that fluoroquinolones are are reserve antibiotics. For many indications, highly effective and at the same time lower-risk substances are available. In the case of minor illnesses such as uncomplicated urinary tract or simple respiratory tract infections, the use of antibiotics can be avoided entirely. Fluoroquinolones are antibiotics whose active ingredient name ends in “-floxacin”, such as ciprofloxacin (trade name, e.g. “Ciprobay”) or levofloxacin (trade name, e.g. “Tavanic”). They have antibacterial properties and can cure serious, life-threatening infections. However, in a few cases they cause serious and long-lasting side effects such as tendon ruptures or psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. Therefore, these reserve antibiotics should only be used after a thorough benefit-risk assessment and only as a last-line treatment option (so-called last-line use). Patients must be intensively informed about the dangers and alternatives of these medications and receive targeted support in the event of damage.
04.04.2020
Legislators have opened the door to application-related data collection for the benefit assessment of new drugs. This presents an opportunity for real-world evidence. However, the requirements under discussion are demanding. Can clinical registries in Germany currently meet these requirements? And could these requirements even be achieved with a reasonable amount of effort? A recent study takes stock of the situation.
02.04.2020
“We want to make our contribution to making medicine a little better.” That’s what Prof. Dr. med. Jörg F. Debatin MBA, Chairman of the health innovation hub (hih), in the cover interview with “Monitor Healthcare Research”. Among other things, Debatin and his team, which he has gathered around him in a very multi-professional manner, want to help ensure that the “digitalization that is quite theoretically anchored in the law actually reaches the patient”. That makes hih, as Debatin explains in the interview, “very free in our ideas and not obligated to anyone else.” And since the end of hih's business activities is already certain at the end of 2021, there is no need to worry about follow-up orders, extensions or the like.
02.04.2020
In Germany, a heated debate has quickly developed regarding access to innovative medicines and their reimbursement. With this contribution, we aim to introduce a proposal for improvement into the discussion, one that utilizes methods of so-called artificial intelligence, although the underlying principles are quite simple to understand.
02.04.2020
The Tübingen Institute for Occupational Medicine began its work in January 1965, but had the first chair holder, Prof. Dr. med. Heinz Weichardt, a toxicological orientation. However, in 1977, a socio-medical department was added under the direction of Prof. Schmahl, which also led to the expansion of the institute's name. Thanks to institutional funding, the continued existence of the institute was contractually secured in 2003 - at a time when similar facilities were being closed at many other faculties in Germany. The third expansion brought Prof. Dr. med. Monika A. Rieger, who has been teaching and researching as medical director of the Institute for Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Health Care Research at the University Hospital of Tübingen since 2009.
02.04.2020
„As the German Association for Managed Care (BMC), we don’t believe in one supposedly optimal form of care or management, but rather in the constant pursuit of better, alternative solutions.“ This is what the BMC wrote in the foreword to its annual congress, which, held in January shortly before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, once again drew well over 600 attendees. They came not only to celebrate the tenth anniversary of what is arguably the most important (and, given the pandemic, perhaps the only one this year) industry congress, but also to discuss the topics chosen by the BMC – cooperation, coordination, and digitalization for patient-centered care – in depth. Since it is impossible to even begin to document the diverse range of forums, panel discussions, and sessions, which covered topics from digital care approaches and patient interests in care concepts to business models and intersectoral care solutions in the healthcare system, you will find only a few highlights here.
02.04.2020
“We want to make our contribution to making medicine a little better.” That’s what Prof. Dr. med. Jörg F. Debatin MBA, Chairman of the health innovation hub (hih), in the cover interview with “Monitor Healthcare Research”. Among other things, Debatin and his team, which he has gathered around him in a very multi-professional manner, want to help ensure that the “digitalization that is quite theoretically anchored in the law actually reaches the patient”. That makes hih, as Debatin explains in the interview, “very free in our ideas and not obligated to anyone else.” And since the end of hih's business activities is already certain at the end of 2021, there is no need to worry about follow-up orders, extensions or the like.
02.04.2020
At the beginning of this year, the kick-off workshop of TMF e. took place in Berlin. V. took place at the start of the implementation phase of the BMBF-funded model register of health services research. With a funding volume of 13.5 million euros, six BMBF-funded model healthcare research registers are implementing their innovative projects: Fever App, HerediCaRe, ParaReg, RECUR, SOLKID-GNR living donation register and the TOFU register in the last round against 13 applications in a selection process. According to TMF, the aim of the funded projects is to build new, patient-related registers on important questions in health care research. To do this, they must meet high quality standards and have a model character.
02.04.2020
After the innovation fund projects Cardiolotse (MVF 04/19), Stroke OWL (MVF 05/19), Mambo (MVF 06/19) and RubiN (MVF 01/20), the ZSE-DUO project, the dual, is presented in this issue Pilot structure to clarify unclear diagnoses in centers for rare diseases. ZSE-DUO expands the previously presented health or patient pilot approaches to include a very early aspect of care management. The ZSE-DUO project also comes with another novelty: It is probably the first attempt in the world to diagnose patients suffering from a rare disease right from the start by a competent team of doctors and psychiatrists, then treat them initially and provide support - if necessary also with telemedical support – into standard care.
02.04.2020
With the rapid report on the use of registers in the course of benefit assessment presented by IQWiG on January 10, 2020, an important milestone has been reached. That in itself is remarkable. Anyone who knows the previous attitude, especially that of the current head of the institute, Jürgenwickeler, knows why.