Dortmund/How – The important dental bonus booklet in paper form has had its day: As of now, those insured with the AOK NordWest in Westphalia-Lippe and Schleswig-Holstein can display their bonus digitally in their electronic patient file and in their app ‘AOK-Mein Leben’. AOK NordWest cooperates with CompuGroup Medical (CGM), the market leader for practice management systems. “For the first time, dentists can also electronically document the important dental check-ups and send them to us quickly and securely digitally directly from their dental practice system. This offers considerable advantages for everyone involved,” says Tom Ackermann, CEO of AOK NordWest. AOK NordWest was the first statutory health insurance company in Germany to digitize this process. “Our pilot for the electronic dental bonus booklet is therefore trend-setting for the entire industry,” says the AOK boss.
The previously purely paper-based process with the stamp in the dental bonus booklet is a thing of the past in Westphalia-Lippe and Schleswig-Holstein. The check-ups for dental prophylaxis previously documented by the medical practices in the dental bonus booklet are digitally transmitted from the dental practice system directly with a mouse click to the electronic patient file for fast, daily updated documentation and displayed in the ‘AOK-Mein Leben’ app. “Our policyholders no longer have to carry the paper bonus booklet with them every time they visit the dentist, nor do they have to submit it to us when applying for dentures. This allows us to speed up the approval process for dentures and significantly simplify the processes in the dental practice and at our company,” says Ackermann. Around 1,200 dental practices in Westphalia-Lippe and Schleswig-Holstein are currently using the necessary CGM practice software.
Telematics infrastructure provides the basis for the technology
A prerequisite for the electronic transmission of the data is a connection between the practice and the telematics infrastructure (TI) and the KIM service based on it (communication in medicine). This ensures absolutely secure transmission and data exchange between the practice and the health insurance company. “The telematics infrastructure provides the basis for the noticeable simplifications from which everyone in the treatment process benefits. Everything works completely smoothly digitally and in an absolutely secure way. The feedback that we received from everyone present is consistently positive and the use case is met with great interest overall,” says Matthias Leu, responsible Business Development Manager at CompuGroup Medical.
AOK NorthWest in profile
AOK NordWest, based in Dortmund, is one of the ten largest statutory health insurance companies in Germany. More than 7,100 employees advise around 2.9 million insured persons in the 86 AOK customer centers, of which over 2.3 million are in Westphalia-Lippe and around 600,000 in Schleswig-Holstein. The budget volume amounts to around 12.5 billion euros. More than 95 percent of the planned expenses are invested directly in the health of the insured.
About CompuGroup Medical Deutschland AG
CGM in Germany is part of CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA, one of the world’s leading e-health companies. The majority of doctors and dentists already work daily with one of the market-leading doctor and dentist information systems. In Germany, however, CGM also offers perfect solutions for efficient and secure e-health management for the areas of hospitals, medical care centres, social facilities, laboratories and specialist and rehabilitation clinics. For pharmacies, CGM LAUER provides modern, networked software that strengthens the pharmacist’s advisory role, improves patient safety and at the same time helps to save time and money.
With CLICKDOC, a digital communication platform is made available that enables a new kind of intersectoral communication between healthcare professionals and patients. CLICKDOC is an all-in-one solution for digital patient communication, online appointments and all future digital solutions and services in healthcare. On a uniform software basis, users can easily combine modules such as online appointment booking, video consultations or the management of digital health applications (DiGA) – efficiently and without hidden costs. In addition, CGM offers a complete product chain with gematik-approved components and services for the telematics infrastructure (TI) – from connectors to VPN access services to e-health card terminals.
CGM’s products and services stand for intelligent communication and networking solutions and connect doctors of all disciplines, hospitals, pharmacies, social institutions and payers. The Connectivity area provides participants in the healthcare sector with a data protection-compliant platform. The common feature of all products in the CGM portfolio in Germany is cross-sector, secure and data protection-compliant communication.