Barts-MS rose-tinted-odometer: ★★★
I am doing a webinar with Professor Tjalf Ziemssen, a good friend and colleague from Dresden, Germany, this afternoon on the digital management of MS. Interestingly, many of the changes and innovations we have put in place to manage MS during the COVID-19 pandemic will survive and actually thrive in the new NHS, simply because we are a socialist healthcare system at the point of delivery. In comparison, in Germany, the reimbursement for digital consultations are an order of magnitude lower than old-fashioned face-2-face synchronous consultations. Therefore the adoption of digital tools to manage MS will be much slower due to the lack of financial incentives.
If you are interested in hearing about the differences between the UK and Germany please register and log-in today’s webinar.
Please note this webinar will not be a didactic lectures, but more of a casual chat; banter between colleagues. I hope to see you later.
CoI: multiple
Twitter: @gavinGiovannoni Medium: @gavin_24211
Morning Prof G.
I’d put my money on the UK for this one. I love living in Germany for many reasons (healthcare for one of them), but feel that the approach to digitalisation in general is still a long way behind other places I’ve been to, such as Poland and even Ukraine. The internet is slow in comparison; you often have no mobile phone connection if you leave the city and it took a pandemic to make paying by card the norm (although this was accompanied by a plethora of articles and interviews about how safe it is). I did attend a webinar on DMTs and Covid-19 last week though, so there are some glimmers of light…
Did you find out anything interesting re Germany and adopting digital tools to manage MS, Prof G? I would be interested to hear what your friend had to say.
Yes and no. The Germans have a very deep and rich pipeline of digital innovations. However, as they are incentives to see patients face-2-face (higher remuneration) they are unlikely to be widely adopted.
That’s a pity. It sounds like it’s the Krankenkassen (German health insurance providers) that are reluctant to adapt and put the same value on digital / technological solutions as on face-to-face consultations. Still, if things get worse this winter maybe they’ll be forced to reconsider.