The e-prescription is to replace the pink prescription by January 1, 2024 and will apply to all those with statutory health insurance.
What patients need to know.
Frankfurt am Main – Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is driving the digitization of the German healthcare system.
He recently announced the digital patient file for all insured persons for 2024 in order to make doctor's letters, paper files, faxes and X-rays on CD superfluous.
In the future, medical professionals should be able to view the patient's medical history, including medication schedules, seamlessly on their cell phones or computers.
The minister also wants to make the so-called e-prescription binding by January 1, 2024, in order to simplify doctor and pharmacy visits for insured persons.
The advantages of the e-recipe are actually quickly explained: All recipes can be saved in one app, follow-up recipes can be sent directly to the app
so that a renewed visit to the doctor in the current quarter becomes superfluous.
With the e-prescription app, insured persons can do just that
Send the prescription to the pharmacy of your choice.
In this way, they can find out whether they have a specific drug in stock and save time.
Insured persons can also pre-order medicines from home and then pick them up or have them delivered - when and how it suits them best.
The app can also be used to pick up prescriptions for other people in the pharmacy.
The e-prescription replaces paperwork
The e-prescription only applies to those insured by statutory health insurance.
In Germany, you have received around 500 million paper prescriptions on the well-known “pink note” every year.
If you want to use the e-recipe, you should download the free Gematik app “e-recipe” from the Google store or the Apple store onto your smartphone.
Insured persons need the new electronic health card with NFC interface for the full functionality of the app.
Statutory insured persons can apply for this card and a personal PIN from their health insurance company.
E-prescription replaces pink slip: what insured persons need to know now
According to the app manufacturer Gematik, the digital data of the e-prescription is encrypted several times during transmission to protect it from unauthorized access.
Only those who are in possession of the prescription code for an e-prescription can also call it up: In addition to the issuing doctor's office and the pharmacy where the prescription is redeemed, this is only the person for whom the prescription is intended.
In addition, they can pass on the recipe code to a person of their choice.
Manual signatures and unnecessary paths within the practice to sign prescriptions are no longer necessary.
Gematik on the topic "The e-prescription makes practice processes more efficient"
The prerequisite for the success of the e-prescription is, of course, that the doctors in this country take part and convert their technology in clinics and practices.
Because only then will the doctor's prescription also come digitally to the cell phone of the insured person.
Patients then show this digital code to the pharmacy or send it via app to the pharmacy of their choice to have the medication delivered.
For all of this to work, the smartphone must support the NFC transmission standard and have at least iOS 14 or Android 7 as the operating system,
reports
Chip.de.
In addition, an electronic health card with NFC function and PIN number is required.
However, it should also be possible to use the functionalities in a slimmed-down manner.
For example, if insured persons cannot register with their cards in the app.
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E-prescriptions can already be redeemed in some pharmacies.
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© Michael Gstettenbauer/imago
E-prescription is coming: Insured persons without a mobile phone also benefit
Patients without a smartphone are not excluded.
You can have the code printed out on paper at the doctor's office and take it to the pharmacy with it.
Another advantage of the app: Instructions for taking and dosing as well as the medication plan can be stored,
reports
Chip.de.
According to app developer Gematik, this information can also be transferred to the electronic patient file.
In addition, privately insured persons should benefit from e-prescriptions in the future.
Discussions for so-called “blue recipes” were still ongoing.
List of rubrics: © Michael Gstettenbauer/imago