Digitalization has long since found its way into many companies — this also applies to medical practices. Unfortunately, modernization here is far from progressing as fast as doctors and patients would like. In fact, patient communication in German medical practices in particular is still often analogous.
Over 40 percent of doctors communicate with their patients on paper
74 percent of all medical professionals are very open to digital innovations, such as Practice barometer digitization of the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians shows. However, there is still room for improvement in actual implementation. For example, only around seven percent of all respondents say they have (almost) completely digitized patient communication. In contrast, around 42 percent of all medical practices still communicate with their patients mostly or even almost completely on paper.
However, there are now through telemedicine or the digital document delivery various ways to connect digitally with patients quickly and easily. One successful doctor-patient communication It is part of everyday medical practice and is decisive for the success of treatment and practice.
Overall, there is a will to change in medical practices. Since the changeover usually costs money, many practices are putting off the necessary digitization first. There are many loans that help with just that.
Loans for practice takeovers and start-ups
It is best if you approach digitization the right way from the start. For example, right when you want to start or take over a practice. In this case, there are numerous loans available to you. Loans from the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) are a classic. Here is an overview of the most important loans from KfW:
The smallest loan from KfW: “ErP-Gründerkredit — StartGeld”
With the KfW entry fee can you receive up to 125,000 euros to invest in machinery, computers, software, etc., or to cover running costs such as rent and personnel costs. The loan is particularly aimed at small and young practices that were founded a maximum of five years ago. Equity is generally not required for this loan. The credit period is five to ten years.
KfW's medium-sized loan: “ERP capital for start-up”
If 125,000 euros are not enough for your project, you can also sign up for ERP capital loan apply. Here you can get up to 500,000 euros. However, this requires equity (usually between 10 and 15 percent). The loan is suitable for medium-sized medical practices that were founded a maximum of three years ago. The term of this KfW loan is 15 years.
The large loan from KfW: “ErP-Förderkredit SME”
The is more suitable for larger practices with up to around 250 employees ERP promotional loan for SMEs, which allows a credit line of up to 25 million euros. This loan is specifically aimed at older practices that must be on the market for at least three years and have a maximum annual turnover of 50 million. The credit period can be up to 20 years.
Funding for medical practices
As a rule, grant funding that does not have to be repaid is even more interesting than loans. But how exactly do doctors find the right funding program for their purposes?
Funding advice helps medical practices
It is hard to overlook the funding jungle in Germany anymore. It is precisely for this reason that there are now funding consultations that find the right funding for medical practices. So that you can continue to concentrate on your patients, the agency takes over these tasks for you:
research
Anyone who wants to research funding themselves must keep an eye on political events and decisions made by ministries and other project promoters. It is not easy to find the right funding online right away. In addition, all funding programs have guidelines, some of which are very difficult to understand. It can therefore be difficult for doctors to assess whether they are the right candidates for funding at all. A funding consultant carries out this research and compiles a detailed overview for you.
Development of a funding strategy
If you want to have several projects funded at once, a strategy is essential. This involves selecting and designing projects in such a way that they are eligible for funding. With the right planning and analysis, you therefore have the chance to achieve the highest overall benefits. Strategy development consists of the respective possible funding programs and is based, for example, on your personnel planning or digitization project. Agencies are also happy to take on this step for you.
Submitting an application
Once you have found the right funding, all you have to do is submit the application. But even that is not that easy. You will have to deal with a lot of paperwork here, which must also be comprehensively checked so that nothing goes wrong when submitting the application. Since you, as a doctor, are faced with a lot of documentation and administrative work anyway, you might also want to hand over this task to a funding consultant.
Whether you want to hire a placement agency is of course up to you. In principle, it can increase the chances of higher funding.
Would you also like to digitize your practice? Nelly is here to help!
One of the ways to modernize your medical practice is with Nelly's software. Nelly digitizes the anamnesis and reckoning your patients — saving you and your team 90 minutes of time every day. Wir advise you without obligation and free of charge to your individual case!
The personal names used in this article always refer equally to all persons. Dual naming and alternate names are omitted in order to improve readability.
.png)
