The new German Government has announced comprehensive reforms of the healthcare system in 2011. At the European Health Congress in Munich this October topics like what guideline appropriate treatment could look like, what the new IT standards are, and what challenges all this poses to physicians and health insurance providers.

Results from the integrated healthcare delivery pilot program, which was started in Saarland in 2008, was presented at the congress. The result suggested the reasonable assumption that not only is there a better way to provide guideline-appropriate outpatient care, to the patient's benefit, but it can also be provided at a lower cost.

To date, over 1000 type II diabetics are already enrolled in this effective program to manage the delivery of healthcare. The medical core element is the product SAM diabetes - a system for managing individual treatment approaches for patients. SAM diabetes is based on the healthcare delivery guidelines actively provides the treating physician with supporting information at the time of patient contact. This solution from the family of software-assisted medicine (SAM) is offered to all of the health insurance providers throughout Germany and has already resulted in distinct successes in the delivery of healthcare to patients.

Uwe Eibich, Executive Vice President Central Europe, explained how guideline-based software can effectively facilitate the work physicians carry out and how it can increase the profitability of the medical practice. The programs are fully integrated into the medical practice process and require a minimum of effort. Not only can the physician increase the efficiency of his medical practice with regard to process management and cost, but best of all, he can improve his patients' quality of life.