gematik, the Gesellschaft für Telematikanwendungen der Gesundheitskarte mbH, has – as can be heard from insider circles – awarded the ePrescription infrastructure to DocMorrris‘ parent company, Zur Rose from Switzerland. However, the contract has not yet been awarded publicly. Competitors such as Noventi, a German company owned by pharmacists and cooperating with the Bertelsmann subsidiary Arvato, are expressing unease and indignation because the contract for the telematics infrastructure (TI) in the German healthcare system has thus been awarded to Zur Rose’s subsidiary eHealth-Tec, which in turn cooperates with the IT group IBM and the German subsidiary of the US giant. The first tender lot thus seems to go to a US group and a Dutch mail-order pharmacy, which excites German applicants such as Noventi or Optica. The software developer Noventi from Munich and also Arvato probably made a formal error. The interesting thing is that IBM first wanted to cooperate with Noventi. However, the pharmacy-owned company refused to cooperate, arguing that the e-prescription service should remain in European hands. This is why Noventi’s CEO, Dr. Hermann Sauer, is also so angry because internationally controlled corporations have been awarded the contract for the TI in the German healthcare system. However, gematik could also come under fire because of this imminent decision with regard to German data protection guidelines. Only recently, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that European providers of digital healthcare applications (DiGA) in the form of apps may not cooperate with US service providers. The ePrescription and its connection to the TI is criticized, among other things, because it is sent without end-to-end encryption. According to data protection experts, data on prescriptions from doctors and data on the delivery of prescriptions are beyond the scope of the law and a legal framework for international data exchange must first be created. However, Noventi will not only fight for data protection compliance, but also for an expansion of corporate law connections with regard to the prohibition of assigning prescriptions and thus for the maintenance of nationwide healthcare provision in Germany. Accordingly, IBM and eHealth-Tec must provide the test environment by March 1, 2021. Four weeks after the official announcement of the award of the contract, the design and planning would begin, so that the productive startup on June 23 next year could take place as planned. July 1 would be the official starting date. However, many critics doubt that this date will be met.
Source: Apotheke Adhoc