Insureds of statutory health insurers (SHI) are accepting the electronic patient record (ePA) introduced on January 1, 2021, with restrained interest, according to an inquiry with the AOK Federal Association.
Even two months after its launch, relatively few insureds at the major health insurers, such as the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkassen, have downloaded and activated the app as a digital document folder and voluntary offering. At the AOK, there were 4,500 activations, at Barmer 2,600, and at DAK a few hundred. However, there is a very clear upward trend among the latter.
Those insured with the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), on the other hand, rely on the added value of the ePA, such as transparency and improved healthcare. There are now already 80,000 users, 78 percent of whom are between 26 and 59 years old. Eight percent of them are under 25; those over 60 use the document folder, which is only in the test phase in Berlin and Westphalia-Lippe for now, at 14 percent.
Despite the creeping process, which according to a spokesperson is „not a sprint but a marathon,“ there is nothing standing in the way of nationwide expansion, with more intensive information around the ePA.
By July 1, 2021, all physicians must be connected. If clinics, other service providers, and other patients are then gradually added and the ePA undergoes the next expansion steps with refined offers, success will probably not be absent. This is also the belief of TK boss Jens Baas, who is betting on the potential of the file; the information that is currently still scattered could be bundled together through widespread use and user-friendliness while respecting data protection.
Source: Aerzteblatt