Sickness fund rejects unfair DMP (disease management programme) competition
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
German sickness funds must standardise their disease management programmes in order to avoid potentially damaging competition, says the guilds' sickness fund (IKK). "If the DMPs are to conform to a unified scientific standard, then there can only be one level of care," said the joint chairman of the IKK's advisory board, Uwe Konrad. Mr Konrad also stressed that standardisation of the programmes must be accompanied by a unified reimbursement system. He added that, although a certain level of competition was essential, in terms of the DMPs, this should only apply to supplementary, rather than standard procedures.