Digitalization | Difficult birth

The electronic patient record (ePA) is still progressing so slowly that one could say it's been a difficult birth. While the technical aspects have now been fundamentally resolved , it's still not satisfactory enough to encourage everyone involved to enthusiastically consult the records as often as possible. Or to simply eliminate a large portion of the workload in doctor's offices. Of the approximately 160,000 practices, clinics, and pharmacies, 70,000 facilities are participating so far.

The hesitation is also due to the fact that a facility must be found for each insured person to perform the relatively complex "initial filling." Even practicing physicians are still hesitant about this, even though they know that use will be mandatory starting in October. Anyone who has the choice should probably avoid making a doctor's appointment in early October, as this could result in additional waiting times.

The patient benefit is no longer quite so sour with the now improved ePA. While it's now possible to block medical findings for selected physician practices, something that wasn't possible in such a differentiated manner before , the question is whether this is really a favor for patients. However, it can easily lead to duplicate examinations – the very thing the file was intended to prevent.

It's still annoying that a reader is now required to view and manage one's own medical records on a PC. It's easier using the smartphone app, but even there, insured members must first be identified and authorized by their health insurance company. Documents such as vaccination records, bonus booklets, or X-rays are not yet accessible. However, as long as medical reports are still sent by mail or printed out to the patient, the ePA remains an unfulfilled promise and, for many insured members, simply as superfluous as some customer cards.