Friday, February 2, 2024, 3:00 p.m
The opt-out ePA for Germany will be launched in 2025. A comparison with countries like Denmark shows key factors on which success in care depends
Munich – Today the so-called Digital Act (Law to Accelerate the Digitalization of the Health Care System, DigiG) will most likely clear the last hurdle in the Federal Council. One of the focuses of the law: the introduction of the ePA for everyone. From 2025, everyone with statutory health insurance will receive an electronic patient file unless they object beforehand. In many other countries, the so-called opt-out ePA is already a reality. The SBK Siemens company health insurance company throws out the spotlight in its white paper “Digital journeys through our healthcare. How we can learn from international role models.” a look at Denmark, where the ePA has been used since 2012.
Dr. Christian Ullrich, Head of IT Operations, Applications and Infrastructure at SBK, is pleased about the further development of the electronic patient file in Germany: “With the switch to the opt-out from 2025, we can take a significant step forward in Germany. But opt-out should not be misunderstood as a panacea for a functioning ePA. If it is complicated to use, if it is not meaningfully integrated into practice and treatment processes, then our new ePA threatens to degenerate into a mere file folder that collects dust in the cupboard.”
Denmark: Three things we can learn
For health system researchers Prof. Dr. Reinhard Busse, Germany can learn three concrete things from 12 years of ePA in Denmark: Success factors are central political control, a well-functioning infrastructure that increases acceptance among users, and, last but not least, a positive error culture. “Just try things out and adjust them, instead of trying to plan everything perfectly from the start. In Denmark it is traditional to first gain experience in a region or community before introducing something nationwide,” explains the expert from the Technical University of Berlin.
The Danish ePA “Sundhedsjournalen”
From the outset, the digital health record in Denmark, established in 2012, was an integral part of a nationwide e-health strategy that our neighbor to the north adopted in 1999. The “Sundhedsjournalen” provides findings, doctor’s letters and other medical information digitally. The state health portal sundhed.dk was launched in 2003. There, Danish citizens and medical professionals can find relevant information about health and the healthcare system.
Think outside the box: SBK goes on a virtual journey
Germany wants to reach the next level of digitalization of its healthcare system with current legal initiatives such as DigiG. The SBK is using this time for a virtual trip to selected countries that are already a few steps ahead of us. Positive lighthouses are shown that can help to take even skeptical people along. From Germany it goes first to Denmark, then to Great Britain. The stations are accompanied by scientists, initially by Dr. Christian Ulrich and Prof. Dr. Reinhard Busse and the legal scholar and professor of IT security Prof. Dr. Dennis Kenji Kipker. For the practical check, fictitious people are presented in concrete application situations. The SBK plans to continue the virtual journey to international role models and to present further results of the comparison with the German healthcare system over the course of the year.
To the white paper “Digital journeys through our healthcare. How we can learn from international role models.”:
About the SBK:
The SBK Siemens company health insurance company is the largest company health insurance company in Germany and is one of the 20 largest statutory health insurance companies. As an open, nationwide health insurance company, it insures more than a million people and looks after over 100,000 corporate customers in Germany – with more than 1,800 employees in 86 branches.
For over 100 years, SBK has been personally and committedly committed to the interests of the insured. It positions itself as a pioneer for real quality competition in statutory health insurance. From the SBK’s point of view, the prerequisite for this is more transparency for the insured – about relevant financial figures, but also about the willingness to perform, advice and service quality of health insurance companies. In the interests of the customer, SBK also combines the best of the personal and digital worlds and actively promotes digitalization in the healthcare system.