Electronic health card trial to begin in Germany
- 25 January 2006
Germany is to start trialling an electronic health card at the end of April that will contains basic patient data such as name, age, next of kin and insurance details, as well as electronic prescriptions.
The Gesundheitskarte (‘good health card’) will contain information in a Chip-and-PIN style microchip on the side of the card, as well as a photograph and human-readable information. It replaces Germany’s existing health insurance card.
The back of the card will double as an European Health Insurance Card, which replaced E111 forms at the start of the year for all EU citizens and will enable all holders to receive healthcare in other countries in Europe.
Electronic prescriptions can also be issued using the card. A GP can upload the prescription data onto a chip in the card and sign it electronically, and the medication data can be read at the pharmacy. For security, there is a signature strip on the back of the card that the pharmacist must validate before handing over medication. The German health ministry already projects that 700million prescriptions per year will be issued in this way.
According to the BMJ, patients will also have the opportunity to include their own health information on the card, and log in via a PIN number. Healthcare professionals, including insurance companies, will need to use another electronic card to log in and read and change patients’ card details.
Testing for health professionals’ access cards began in December. Dr Udo Helmbrecht, president of the federal office for IT security, said that both the patient and professional cards were crucial to the security of the healthcare informatics system.
The patient’s electronic health card had been scheduled to be in widespread use at the beginning of 2006 but the programme has falled behind schedule.
Ulla Schmidt, the German federal minister for health, said that after the trial is successful the card will be expanded to cover 100,000 users by the end of 2006.
Links
Die Gesundheitskarte (in German)
