Germany Patient Support Programs (PSP) Market Analysis

Germany Patient Support Programs (PSP) Market Executive Analysis

The Germany Patient Support Programs (PSP) market size is at around $xx Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach $xx Bn in 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period. The federal government will boost its contribution to the healthcare budget by $2.14 Bn, raise insurance premiums by 0.3 %age points, and provide a $1.07 Bn interest-free loan to fund mandatory health insurance. The GKV-Finanzstabilisierungsgesetz (GKV-FinStG) aims to stabilize the financial position of statutory health insurance (GKV) in order to cover an expected $18.23 Bn deficit for 2023. In order to maintain constant contributions, mandatory health insurance in Germany will receive an additional $7.50 Bn from taxpayers in 2022. In 2022, the amount the government will spend on health insurance will increase to a total of $30.56 Bn.

Patient support programs (PSPs) enhance the care patients receive from their healthcare team by providing them with information, training, education, and practical and emotional support. This gives patients the tools they need to effectively manage their conditions on their own. PSPs are currently a crucial instrument for collecting data for pharmacovigilance and enhancing patient safety. Smaller and medium-sized corporations in Germany have invested in these programs, and nearly all major pharmaceutical companies offer some level of PSPs for drugs that treat chronic illnesses. PSPs are a common component of the business for individuals involved in the treatment of rare diseases. Patient support programs provided by pharmaceutical companies in Germany are typically designed to offer additional support to patients who have been prescribed a particular medication. Some examples of patient support programs provided by pharmaceutical companies in Germany include patient education and counseling, and medication support- Pharmaceutical firms may offer patient assistance programs, such as co-pay assistance programs or free medicine programs for those who satisfy certain requirements, to help patients manage the expense of their medications. Adherence support, disease management, monitoring, and patient advocacy and support groups are some other PSPs offered by pharmaceutical companies in Germany.

Market Dynamics

Market Growth Drivers

In Germany, there is an increasing emphasis on patient-centered care, which emphasizes offering individualized care that caters to the specific needs of individual patients. By giving patients the tools and assistance, they need to manage their conditions, patient support programs can contribute to the success of this strategy by fostering the Germany PSP market growth.

Market Restraints

Some patients might not be aware that patient support programs are offered to them or they might not be aware of the advantages these programs can provide. The adoption of these programs can be hampered by this ignorance. For smaller pharmaceutical businesses in particular, creating and implementing patient care programs can be expensive. These expenses might be passed on to patients or healthcare providers, which might prevent these initiatives from being adopted in Germany.

Major Patient Support Programs in Germany

Top PSP Operators in Germany

• Ashfield Engage- Ashfield Engage provides next-generation patient engagement programs, built on behavioral science, patient-centric technology, and collaborations
• CEBIS International- CEBIS has two major Business Units — the Clinical & Regulatory Services (CRS) Unit and the Patient Support Programs (PSP) Unit. The PSP Unit is focused on medication adherence and technology-based interventions
• Vitartis- Vitartis offers comprehensive patient support programs for a range of conditions Multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatism, psoriasis, Parkinson’s, and hemophilia
• Smart Patient- Smart Patient designed MyTherapy App to provide personalized support to the patients, tailored to the specifics of their medication and grounded in behavior change theory
• Atlantis Healthcare- Atlantis Health GmbH offers patient support as a full-service provider, including the design, development, and delivery of patient support programs, market research, patient panels and advocate programs, provider selection, evaluations, etc.

Healthcare Policies and Regulatory Landscape

The European Medicine Agency’s (EMA) good practice guidelines for pharmacovigilance address legal requirements applicable to marketing authorization holders (MAHs) for the management and reporting of safety data arising in PSPs that involve direct interactions with patients and caregivers for the purpose of helping to manage a patient’s medication and disease outcomes (for example, adherence, awareness, and education) or providing HCPs with support for their patients.

In Germany, the PSPs are specifically tailored to a particular product that is provided to patients and/or physicians free of charge and can qualify as benefits that could fall under the prohibition of Section 7 HWG (heilmittelwerbegesetz).

The FSA (Association for the Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Pharmaceutical Industry) Transparency Code obliges all FSA member companies to publish their direct and indirect services provided to doctors, healthcare professionals, and healthcare organizations. This includes services related to research and development as well as donations and other unilateral services in connection with advanced training courses, services, and consultancy fees.

The permissibility of PSPs has been thoroughly assessed and reconsidered by the FSA, which lead to the FSA Code of Conduct Healthcare Professionals, according to which, amongst other requirements, such measures ensure the correct application and use of the pharmaceutical product must follow a medical rationale to be assessed and determined by the medical department of the company.