Nursing services and facilities in Germany are increasingly working digitally, and private providers in particular are well positioned. This was shown by a recent online survey conducted by the Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services (bpa).

The bpa has now published a press release looking at which areas of work in German nursing care are particularly well digitised.

WHAT HAPPENED

According to the bpa study, 89% of inpatient and outpatient nursing care companies already rely on digital processes for documentation or billing, and 71% of those surveyed stated that their employees communicate digitally with each other.

With 75%, three out of four nursing services now also provide a digital communication channel to doctors and pharmacies. In addition, 88% of the participating companies use digital tools for duty and route planning and a further 77% for quality control.

More than 1,500 members of the bpa were surveyed, of which almost two thirds were outpatient nursing services (61 percent). The overwhelming majority (74%) were medium-sized and small nursing companies with fewer than 50 employees.

ON THE RECORD

"Assumptions and insinuations that nursing care is skeptical about digital change or that nursing staff have no technical affinity were clearly refuted," said bpa president Bernd Meurer regarding the results.

Results indicate the opposite, with almost two thirds that had long been active in terms of digitisation, and one third even for more than five years.

"The private nursing services and homes have often been dealing with the subject for years and see digitisation as an opportunity for the industry," Meurer emphasised.

There are clear implementation priorities.

THE LARGER TREND

The bpa is the largest German organisation representing the interests of social service providers, to which outpatient and inpatient nursing services belong, and which has set itself the goal of establishing and further developing the quality of nursing care.

In June, the bpa symposium took place in Berlin, where the current focal points of digitisation in German nursing care were stated, such as digital administration, telehealth appointments and e-learning through digital documentation.

Further information can be found here.

Anna Engberg is a Wiesbaden-based freelance journalist specialising in health and technology