Institute of Artificial Intelligence, University Hospital Gießen-Marburg, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany.
Institute for Digital Medicine, University Hospital Gießen-Marburg, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Nov 6;24(1):1353. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11807-1.
Therapeutic digital health applications (DiGAs) are expected to significantly enhance access to evidence-based care. Since 2020, German physicians and psychotherapists have been able to prescribe approved DiGAs, which are reimbursed by statutory health insurance. This study investigates the usage, knowledge and perception of DiGAs as well as the growing digitalization among internal medicine physicians in Germany.
A web-based survey was distributed at the 2024 annual congress of the German Society for Internal Medicine. Participants could respond by scanning a QR code or directly on a tablet.
A total of 100 physicians completed the survey, with a mean age of 43.4 years. The majority were internal medicine physicians (85%). Of the respondents, 31% had already prescribed DiGAs, and 29% had tested one. Self-rated knowledge of DiGAs was low (median score 3.17/10). The main barriers identified were lack of knowledge about effective implementation (60%), lack of time for patient onboarding (27%), and concerns about patient adherence (21%). However, 92% believed that DiGAs could improve care, and 88% expressed interest in specific digital health training. The majority (64%) stated that digitalization had a positive impact on medical care and 39% of physicians expected their daily workload to decrease due to digitalization. In addition, 38% believed that the physician-patient relationship would improve as a result of digitalization.
While physicians widely acknowledged the potential benefits of DiGAs, adoption and understanding remain limited. Specific training in digital health is crucial to accelerate digitalization in internal medicine.
治疗性数字健康应用程序（DiGAs）有望显著增加获得循证治疗的机会。自 2020 年以来，德国医生和心理治疗师已能够为符合条件的 DiGAs 开处方，由法定健康保险报销。本研究调查了德国内科医生对 DiGAs 的使用、知识和认知，以及日益增长的数字化趋势。
在德国内科医学会 2024 年的年会上进行了一项基于网络的调查。参与者可以通过扫描二维码或直接在平板电脑上回答问题。
共有 100 名医生完成了调查，平均年龄为 43.4 岁。大多数为内科医生（85%）。在回答者中，31%已经开了 DiGAs，29%已经试用过。自我评估的 DiGAs 知识水平较低（中位数得分为 3.17/10）。确定的主要障碍包括对有效实施缺乏了解（60%）、缺乏患者入组的时间（27%）以及对患者坚持性的担忧（21%）。然而，92%的人认为 DiGAs 可以改善护理，88%的人对特定的数字健康培训表示感兴趣。大多数（64%）表示数字化对医疗保健有积极影响，39%的医生预计数字化会减少他们的日常工作量。此外，38%的人认为数字化会改善医患关系。
尽管医生普遍认识到 DiGAs 的潜在好处，但采用和理解仍然有限。数字健康方面的专项培训对于加速内科的数字化至关重要。
