Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is blowing the “catch-up hunt” in the digitization of the healthcare system. The SPD politician wants to make the electronic prescription the standard by 2024. But what exactly is the e-prescription and what does it mean for patients?
The e-prescription should soon be part of everyday life and replace the paper prescription. Anyone who goes to their family doctor and wants to pick up a prescription for blood pressure medication, for example, will soon no longer be able to redeem it in the usual paper form. First of all, this applies to the well-known pink prescriptions that statutory health insurance patients receive for prescription drugs. The consumer advice center announced that private prescriptions will follow later. From 2024, the use of electronic prescriptions for medical practices will be mandatory.
The doctor creates a digital prescription that contains information about the medication, dosage, patient data and doctor data. Once the e-prescription has been created, the practice uploads it to a server for e-prescriptions. There the data is automatically encrypted and an e-prescription token is generated. This token contains a code that consumers need to be able to redeem the prescription at the pharmacy. Instead of the prescription in paper form, patients only receive the e-prescription token in the doctor’s office.
To redeem the e-prescription in the pharmacy, patients have three options:
1. With the electronic health card
People with statutory health insurance have been able to redeem prescriptions with their electronic health card since the beginning of July. The card is inserted into a terminal in the pharmacy and the pharmacists can then download the e-prescription from the server. According to the consumer advice center, the authenticity of the card is automatically checked. Medicines can also be picked up for relatives. It is not necessary to enter a PIN at this point.
However, a PIN is required for general use of the electronic health card. The PIN is intended to ensure that the data on the card is secure and that the named person is really the cardholder. Therefore, those with statutory health insurance must apply for the PIN from their health insurance company and undergo an identification procedure. For example, during a personal visit to the service point of the health insurance company. In order to be able to redeem the e-prescription with the insurance card, it must be NFC-enabled. You can tell whether you have an electronic health card by the six-digit number at the top right under the German flag.
2. With the e-prescription app
Alternatively, those with statutory health insurance have the option of using a special app (Gematik app) via an NFC-enabled smartphone. However, this requires registration with an NFC-enabled electronic health card (eGK) and a special PIN.
It is also possible to use a version of the statutory health insurance app. But: As a rule, you have to identify yourself there beforehand using a digital procedure (Postident) or in person at the service point of the health insurance company. The app offers a number of advantages: you can ask the pharmacy of your choice whether the drug is in stock, and anyone who already has a previous prescription and needs a follow-up prescription in the same quarter can have the follow-up prescription sent directly to their smartphone by the doctor’s practice via an app. Another visit to the doctor is not necessary.
3. Printout of the e-prescription
If you don’t want to use a smartphone or an electronic health card, you get a printout. The patients then receive a paper printout of the e-prescription. So you don’t get the actual prescription, just a digital key (e-prescription token). This is also valid without the handwritten signature of the doctor. With this key, the pharmacy can then download the original digital prescription from the central server and process it further. This variant hardly differs from the previous paper recipe.
The e-prescription is encrypted. The pharmacy can use a signature to determine who issued and processed the prescription, informs the consumer advice center. Only the prescribing doctor and the pharmacy can see the prescription.
The e-prescriptions are stored on specially secured servers and the data is automatically deleted 100 days after the prescription has been redeemed. Patients can also delete these themselves beforehand.
Sources: Consumer Center, Federal Ministry of Health, Gematik, with material from the DPA
