Electronic sick leave is increasingly falling into the category of standard digital services. This, as explained in GKV-Spitzenverband, is evidenced by data from the first quarter of 2023. There is regular interaction between company management and health insurance companies. According to the information collected, since the beginning of the year, employers have already received 21.6 million digital illness declarations from their employees.
According to the GKV-Spitzenverband, in March 2023 alone, 12.9 million electronic sick leave records were sent by doctors, which is 13% more than in February.
Doris Pfeiffer, chairwoman of the board of the German National Association for Compulsory Health Insurance (GKV), explained that electronic sick leave has quickly adapted to the healthcare system. “When the digital process is launched, it is a priori well received by employers, medical institutions and policyholders. In general, this type of innovation contributes to the promotion of digitalization in Germany. »
The electronic declaration of sickness provides, among other things, a more precise picture of sick leave. Until now, “the statistics did not allow us to give a complete picture, because employees did not always submit confirmation of their declaration of illness to the health insurance fund, especially in the case of short and acute illnesses”, said specified the association.
From 1 January, compulsory insured persons must, as before, inform their employer of their illness and indicate the duration of their planned absence. Medical institutions send electronic notification of illness to health insurance companies, from where the information is transmitted to employers.
GKV-Spitzenverband points out that in addition to sick leave, which accounts for around 90% of the total, there are other certificates already integrated into the procedure. For example, periods of stay in a hospital and certificates of insured accidents. It is also planned that from 2025, the health insurance funds will provide digital information on the modalities of rehabilitation.
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