[Acceptance and status of digitalization in clinics and practices : Current assessment in German urology].

Background: Digitalization of patient documentation and introduction of the electronic patient record (ePA) pose challenges to everyday clinical practice.

Objectives: We investigated the acceptance and status of the digitalization of patient data and the introduction of the ePA among German urologists.

Materials And Methods: A questionnaire with 30 questions about the acceptance and status of digitalization of patient documentation and ePA was sent out via the newsletter of the German Society of Urology.

[Costs and benefits of quality management].

The establishment of quality management (QM) has been mandatory for health care providers of the national health insurance since 2004; however, certification is so far only compulsory for rehabilitation clinics. The costs have so far only been quantified in a few medical studies, while they are widely known in business administration with a basic distinction made between planning, steering, auditing, and declaration costs. Another business economics approach differentiates between prevention, appraisal, and non-conformance costs.

[New aspects of case law on andrological questions: what does this mean for physicians in private practice?].

In recent years there have been several Supreme Court adjudications concerning andrological issues. Among other things it was reconfirmed that drug therapy for erectile dysfunction does not have to be paid by compulsory health insurance providers. In contrast one Supreme Court decided that cryoconservation of ejaculates has to be paid by compulsory health insurance providers under certain circumstances.