“I better stay at home…”—health system decisions to support the use of routine healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, sharp disruptions of healthcare utilization for noncommunicable diseases were observed to some extent because of people’s fear of infection. We undertook a review of German healthcare institutions asking: To what extent were people supported in their decisions (not) to seek medical care for health problems other than COVID-19? Methods: Content analysis of the websites of the members of the Association of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF; n = 179), the association of statutory (dental) health insurance physicians (K(Z)Vs; n = 38), selected health insurances (n = 21), selected healthcare institutions (n = 25), and supraregional health information providers (n = 5) for information and offers that address people with noncommunicable diseases. Results: The examined websites provide information about COVID-19, but only rarely about how to behave in the case of another (suspected) disease regarding healthcare utilization. Two health information provider portals, one health insurance company, but none of the KVs offer explicit decision support. KVs refer more often, but not consistently, to the general possibility of video consulting. Discussion: Information concerning the topic is scarce for most of the patients. In the face of the ongoing pandemic, it is important to expand existing, trustworthy, high-quality information and advisory capacities to increase their profile in order to enable health-literate decisions even during a pandemic.