Gematik has already laid the foundation for a secure data network with the introduction of the health card. By the middle of next year, the next milestone must be completed, the technical infrastructure for the nationwide introduction of the electronic prescription (e-prescription). To this end, Gematik is currently working on setting up the e-prescription app, which must be available from mid-2021. The system for using the e-prescription will, however, go through a development process that will take years, BMG subdivision manager Christian Klose, the digitization expert for geomatics, telematics infrastructure and e-health, is certain of that, even if fully digitized processing is planned to be available from January 2022. In his opinion, the usage rates of the e-prescription app cannot be predicted so far, but will perhaps be similar or higher than the rate of users of the Corona Warning App, which is used by around 25 percent of people in this country. The Patient Data Protection Act (PDSG) also stipulates that, in addition to electronic prescriptions, paper prescriptions can still be used, partly because not all patients have a smartphone to date. However, the decisive code is then also printed on the paper prescription and can be received by the pharmacist as a digital prescription. Experts from Gematik, including Hannes Neumann, Sabine von Schlippenbach and Managing Director Markus Leyck-Dieken, already had virtual insights into the e-health application at Expopharm Impuls 2020, in early October, where the latter explained that offers from other third-party providers will probably also have a real added value for patients.
Source: pharmazeutische-zeitung.de