Digital platform for outpatient preventive services

This document outlines the Digital Platform for SPA Resorts, a scalable digital solution designed to automate and streamline patient access to medical services at SRHR. It summarizes the client's objectives regarding the platform and presents the derived use cases, which will be realized via the platform. 

Since June 2021, the outpatient preventive service according to Section 23 Paragraph 2 has again been listed as a compulsory service of the statutory health insurance funds in the Social Code Book V for SRHR with SPA status, after it was only listed as an "optional service" following the 1997 health reform. The text of the law reads (https://www.sozialgesetzbuch-sgb.de/sgbv/23.html): "If the services according to paragraph 1 are not sufficient for insured persons or if they cannot be carried out due to special professional or family circumstances, the Statutory Health Insurance Providers (SHIP) supports outpatient preventive services in SRHR that are required for medical reasons. 

"The need for outpatient preventive services in the healthcare system is increasing sharply and is very high overall. There are signs of a slight increase in the number of measures, although the level remains very low. However, this important legal step alone is unlikely to lead to a robust upward trend in the future in the still hesitant demand from insured persons. Due to the predominantly cautious approval practice of SHIP over many years, outpatient preventive care has been 'forgotten' by insured persons and practicing physicians and has suffered considerable damage to its image. "

The Landkreis Hameln-Pyrmont is strategically located on the border of North Rhine-Westphalia, positioned between the economic hub of East Westphalia to the west and the metropolitan region of Hanover to the northeast. The area is home to three major SPA towns: Bad Münder, Bad Pyrmont, and Salzhemmendorf. SRHR facilities operating within Landkreis Hameln-Pyrmont play a vital social and economic role, serving as key drivers of local economies and significantly shaping the development of their respective cities.

The goals of the project are derived from the interest of the Lower Saxony State Spa Pyrmont Operating Company (Niedersächsische Staatsbad Pyrmont Betriebsgesellschaft mbH) to continue using the SPA infrastructure of Bad Pyrmont in line with its core identity and to promote the regional health economy and health tourism. The majority of SPA towns in Hameln-Pyrmont district as well as most other SPAs in Germany can also identify with these goals:

●    Revitalizing outpatient preventive care for insured patients, offering services during and after their working lives.

●    Providing barrier-free access to preventive care for all insured persons, regardless of geographic or financial barriers.

●    Enhancing planning and quality of outpatient care through telemedicine components to initiate, prepare, and support the preventive service.

●    Attracting younger insured individuals by integrating more accessible digital services.

●    Improving the medium and long-term effect of the preventive services by dividing the preventive service into steps and adding digital content.

To achieve these objectives, the platform will provide insured individuals with comprehensive information about SRHR services. Users will be able to submit their SPA treatment application (according to Section 23, Paragraph 2 of Social Code Book V) as part of a telemedical consultation with a physician, plan their treatment at SRHR from home, and optionally conduct the intake interview with the SPA doctor via telemedicine. The platform will offer a seamless experience, from resort to post-treatment follow-up care.

The platform will also enable the provision of medical products approved by SHIP, as well as a range of medical services from SRHR, including various forms of individual and group physiotherapy.

The platform is designed to comply with GDPR, Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Market Act (DMA), and other applicable regulations and ensure secure data handling.