Germany

Ten Point Plan for Medical Technology

BVMed has published a ten-point plan for the care of patients with advanced medical technology as a basis for health policy discussions due to take place in the coming months along with the German Bundestag election campaign.

The ten points are:

1. The quality rating of medical devices must be demonstrated by means of the CE quality mark;

2. Access to medical-technical innovations should be designed to be unbureaucratic and flexible;

3. It must be possible to introduce medical-technical innovations into hospitals without restrictions;

4. We advocate an innovation pool to accelerate the introduction of medical-technological innovations into the SHI;

5. We campaign for a tax-advantaged innovation savings scheme (Steuer-begünstigtes Innovations Sparen, SIS);

6. We consider health services research a useful and necessary joint task for all players in the healthcare system;

7. Cooperation between medical institutions and industry is desired and essential for the improvement of patient care;

8. Emphasis must again be on the quality of medical devices (e.g. regarding aids and appliances). Patients must be able to freely choose their service provider and their products;

9. Homecare should become regular part of SHI, and

10.Telemedicine should become part of regular care.

For more information, please visit: www.bvmed.de