Linking data can provide valuable insights
09.08.2023 16:53
The chairwoman of the AOK Federal Association, Dr. Carola Reimann:
“The draft law now presented by the Federal Ministry of Health is a good basis for using the available health data even more systematically and effectively in the future to improve care and further develop our health system. Particularly positive is the plan to connect the health insurance data from the research data center with the data from the regional cancer registries. This allows valuable insights to be gained for care, as recently shown by the AOK-supported study on the effectiveness of care in oncology centers (WiZen). We also welcome the plan to enable health insurance companies to use insured person data to promote health. Based on the evaluation of billing data, health insurance companies can, for example, remind insured people of upcoming vaccinations or make personalized preventative care offers.
However, we are critical of some of the detailed regulations in the draft law, which will primarily lead to bureaucratic effort for the health insurance companies. This primarily concerns the planned shortening of deadlines for the transmission of so-called routine data by the health insurance companies and the advance transmission of preliminary data from outpatient care. Complex data flows are to be set up at the expense of those paying contributions without providing adequate benefits in return. The legislature should make further improvements in these areas to ensure the quality of the transmitted data.”