Illegible doctor’s handwriting on a prescription will soon be a thing of the past. The introduction of the e-prescription starts with a small field trial, but is to take place across the board from 2022.
The introduction of the digital recipe in Germany is taking shape.
On Thursday, the official app for the electronic prescription (e-prescription) was made available for free download in the Apple and Google app stores. At the same time, a pilot test started in Berlin and Brandenburg: around 50 medical practices and 120 pharmacies will test and evaluate the new e-prescription.
The app comes from Gematik GmbH, the majority of which is owned by the federal government and is responsible for setting up a secure health data network. The Federal Ministry of Health and Gematik hope that the e-prescription will increase drug safety for patients if all drugs taken are continuously checked for side effects and interactions. In addition, the entire process from the prescription in the doctor’s office to the collection by the patient to the billing with the health insurance companies should be made much more efficient.
It may still take a few weeks before the first digital prescriptions are issued, because selected partners are initially simulating various test scenarios in the pilot test in Berlin and Brandenburg. The aim is to examine and test the interaction of the various systems under real conditions. The e-prescription should then be mandatory for all practices by January 2022. A quarter earlier, in October 2021, the digital version of the “yellow note”, i.e. the electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU), is mandatory.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has now approved the system. The review found “no major defects”, according to the test report. However, the BSI only wants to allow the regular start from 2022 if the required conditions are implemented. In the future, users should be warned in the app if they do not protect access to their smartphone with a code or fingerprint. You should also receive a notification of unusual login attempts. The “Handelsblatt” had previously reported on the approval of the app and the requirements of the BSI.
The third phase of the large-scale digitization project of the German health care system, the introduction of the electronic patient record (ePA), also starts with the e-prescription pilot test. As of July 1st, all medical practices should be connected to the digital telematics infrastructure of the healthcare system (TI). According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), “almost all practices of resident doctors and psychotherapists” are connected to the TI, which is supposed to enable a safe and fast exchange of data in the health care system.
During a visit to an already networked doctor’s practice in Berlin, Gottfried Ludewig, Head of the Digitization and Innovation Department at the Federal Ministry of Health, recalled that the start of the electronic patient record had been preceded by a discussion lasting over 18 years. The EPA will now be “usable step by step in more and more medical practices”. At the end of September, it will then be available nationwide throughout Germany. “With the electronic patient file, data can be exchanged more quickly and stored for longer. This will improve patient care. ”
The head of Gematik GmbH, Markus Leyck Dieken, spoke of a “new era” that is now “finally beginning for doctors and patients”. “In the coming months, people will notice more and more that it is easier for them if they always have their findings with them using the electronic patient record.”
Medical practices that are not affiliated with the TI can in future be penalized with a fee deduction. However, the sanctions have been suspended for the time being, as not all common IT systems in the practices can yet be docked to the TI. According to Gematik, the approval for the corresponding upgrade for the last significant provider that is still missing will take place “in a few weeks”.
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