Health insurance companies cooperate with Teleclinic: Federal government sees no problem

The telemedicine provider »Teleclinic« was acquired in 2020 by the Swiss Zur Rose Group, which also includes the mail order company Doc Morris , which offers medical services and mail-order services for prescription drugs.

The takeover raises a whole host of questions regarding conflicts of interest, the independence of medical decisions, and freedom of treatment. The company has been brought before the courts on several occasions . The AfD therefore submitted a minor inquiry to the federal government in July. The answers are now available.

When asked about the legally mandated separation of medical and pharmacy services, the federal government stated that it is monitoring all developments and regularly reviews whether any legal adjustments may be necessary. Furthermore, the monitoring and enforcement of pharmacy regulations is the responsibility of the responsible state authorities. The government also responds similarly to questions concerning patient data protection. Here, too, it briefly refers to existing laws and the responsibilities of the states and authorities.

The government, however, is addressing in more detail the question of whether insured persons whose health insurance companies have not entered into a cooperation agreement with Teleclinic could be disadvantaged. These cooperation agreements have generated considerable criticism in the past. The North Rhine Chamber of Pharmacists warned of conflicts of interest and accused the health insurance companies of violating the principle of neutrality.

The government emphasizes that telemedicine is an important tool for advancing healthcare. At the same time, the Act to Accelerate the Digitalization of Healthcare has created new opportunities for video consultations in recent years.

Video consultations could now be arranged, for example, via the electronic appointment service of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (116117). This would provide broad access to telemedicine services for insured persons. According to the Federal Government, if individual health insurance companies provide additional services for their insured persons, this will not disadvantage other insured groups.