Health and data protection: Before starting the e-patient files: Appeal to insured persons

When introducing the electronic patient file (EPA), the Federal Data Protection Officer Louisa Specht-Remenschneider sees no major hurdles. She was “very, very grateful” to the Chaos Computer Club for uncovering a security gap that allowed unauthorized access to all e-files, she said when presenting the 2024 activity report for data protection and freedom of information.

Computer specialists and various organizations from the healthcare system had warned of security gaps before starting in the model regions. Since then a lot has happened to ensure security, said Specht-Remenschneider. However, she also pointed out that it is not as a federal representative for data protection and freedom of information about the security of the EPA, but the Federal Office of Information Technology.

“Decide and decide yourself.”

Data usability and data protection do not rule out, said Specht-Remenschneider. She appealed to insured persons to decide whether they wanted to use the EPA or not. “Decide and decide yourself.” According to the executive Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the European -wide rolling out of electronic patient files is imminent. Previously, testing is made in three model regions.

The EPA should accompany insured persons for a lifetime. In the digital memory, for example, doctor’s letters, findings, laboratory values ​​and prescribed medication are to be collected. Access are given practices, clinics and pharmacies when the insured are in their health insurance card in their reader. This is regularly limited to 90 days.

Set access rights via health insurance app

The insured persons can revoke access rights via the smartphone app of your health insurance company or determine which doctors should get insight for how long. In this way, you can also upload documents to the e-file, for example self-led blood pressure diaries or important diagnoses from the past.

E-files were already introduced as a selectable offer that you had to take actively, but they were hardly used. Therefore, the traffic light coalition turns the principle with a law: Now everyone gets an e-file unless they actively contradicts. The data protection officer said that she has pointed out the health insurance companies.

Predecessor criticized the solution to the objection

Specht-Remenschneider’s predecessor Ulrich Kelber had criticized the contradiction solution for data protection reasons and demanded that the patient file may only be automatically filled with uncritical data. In his view, everything else should be necessary to consent the insured, for example for information on possible HIV infections, abortions or mental illnesses.