By 2023, those with health insurance in Germany should be able to download their insurance card to their smartphone and the web.
Barmer Krankenkasse will offer its 8.7 million policyholders the opportunity to put their insurance card on their smartphone. T-Systems and the ID service provider Verimi were commissioned with the complex digital project, the companies announced on Wednesday in Berlin. The parties involved did not provide any information on the order volume. The contract has a term of seven years.
“Digital identities will simplify many things and make them more secure,” said a spokeswoman for the second largest health insurance company in Germany. On the one hand, the insured should be able to access the digital services of the cash register around the clock and at the same time be secure. This is possible via a smartphone app, but also via a protected website. In this way, the insured could also access their electronic patient file.
Smartphone app instead of insurance card
The smartphone app is intended to make the conventional insurance card superfluous, including in medical practices and other service providers. “The digital identity is stored on the smartphone in a digital ID wallet, i.e. in an electronic wallet,” said the spokeswoman.
The Verimi ID wallet, which has been approved by the Federal Office for Information Security as a secure procedure, is used as the digital storage location for the digital health card. T-Systems then operates the service in the cloud.
Committed by law
The creation of a digital identity for those with health insurance is required by law in Germany. The basis is the Digital Supply and Care Modernization Act (DVPMG), which came into force last year. From 2023, all health insurance companies must offer their members a secure digital solution that works on an equal footing and in addition to the electronic health card (eGK).
Verimi and T-Systems explained that the solution presented was designed in such a way that other statutory and private health insurance companies could also use the components as the basis for their offers.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
