Original article
Drug contracts are the instrument of selective contracting in the area of outpatient drug care. They offer opportunities to reduce costs, open up new markets and improve the quality of care. The overall potential of discount contracts has not yet been leveraged. All those involved are asked to get involved, to develop new forms of contract or to adapt existing contracts to meet needs.
01.06.2010
Discount contracts have played a prominent role in the pharmaceutical supply of statutory health insurance (GKV). This competitive field has undergone dramatic change in many respects. Not only contract design, implementation, but also legal assessment and public perception have changed. Implementation problems from the beginning have largely been resolved. The savings from the contracts are essential for the GKV - every statutory health insurance company has reported numerous contracts. The article provides an overview of the experiences of the German BKK.
01.06.2010
The instrument of drug discount contracts was implemented in the statutory health insurance (GKV) system in order to curb drug spending in the outpatient sector. The GKV Competition Strengthening Act (GKV-WSG), which came into force on April 1, 2007, paved the way for health insurance companies to be able to conclude discount agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers more effectively than before. Since then, pharmacists have had to give preference to discounted medications. Ideally, both manufacturers and health insurance companies can benefit from such discount agreements.
01.06.2010
The past and presumably also the current reforms of politics in the pharmaceutical sector strengthen the service providers working in the field of discount agreements according to §130a SGB V for the GKV. The reason for this lies essentially in the complexity of the materials as well as in the bundling of demand volumes. Despite the merger of several health insurance companies, however, they wish to see their individual interests reflected in the contract. Service providers like GWQ ServicePlus AG are measured by whether they enable individual contract strategies in the pharmaceuticals sector on the one hand and whether they successfully achieve high discounts on the other. This is accompanied by the complex task of the technical implementation of the contracts and also a far-reaching consulting service on drug contracts. This concerns pharmaceutical, procurement law, data technology and financial aspects.
01.06.2010
Federal Minister of Health Dr. Philipp Rösler in the MVF cover interview:
01.04.2010
Kommentar von Franz Knieps, Berater für Gesundheitspolitik der SPD-Fraktion, Wiese Consult, Berlin; war bis Ende 2009 Abteilungsleiter im Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, Berlin und ist u.a. Mitglied im Herausgeberbeirat von „Monitor Versorgungs- forschung“ (MVF)
01.04.2010
Krankenkassen erheben Zusatzbeiträge - eine erste Analyse der Hintergründe
01.04.2010
Diabetes mellitus: Auswirkungen einer Zulassungserweiterung auf die Patienten-Medikation
01.04.2010
Prof. Dr. Gerd Glaeske, head of the Center for Social Policy at the University of Bremen, in an MVF interview:
01.04.2010
The aim of the study was to analyze DRG-attributable effects on the care process in and around the hospital. On the basis of 30 representatively selected hospitals in Lower Saxony and using a differentiated methodology, it was possible to show: 1. The quality of direct patient care in the hospital has largely not changed due to the introduction of the DRG. 2. There is no evidence for a targeted selection of lucrative treatment cases. 3. The phenomenon of a "bloody dismissal" cannot be proven. 4. An increase in unplanned readmissions ("revolving door effect") in the course of the introduction of the DRG cannot be proven. 5. The hospitals have created the essential prerequisites for the operational implementation of the DRG system; a future-oriented strategic alignment and a consistent process design has only been partially implemented. 6. The working conditions have changed in the course of the introduction of the DRG, with the documentation and coding effort being overestimated. 7. The medium-sized and large hospitals are largely economically successful even under DRG conditions because they can use the opportunities for strategic realignment, while this is much more difficult for the smaller hospitals.