Electronic patient file: social association criticizes lack of accessibility

The electronic patient file 3.0 (ePA) is to be rolled out nationwide from April 29 and will serve to improve medical care. One advantage of the ePA is the ability to view health data in one place. However, the ePA is not yet truly barrier-free and there are still unanswered questions regarding data protection, as the President of the German Social Association VdK, Verena Bentele, has now criticized. The Ärzteblatt, among others, reported on this. Even though the Federal Ministry of Health regularly emphasizes the data security of the ePA, “many people still feel a residual sense of uncertainty”. The reasons for this include warnings from IT security researchers and other organizations.

Bentele also criticizes the fact that many people with disabilities are currently effectively excluded from using the ePA, as access is not barrier-free. This also jeopardizes the acceptance of the ePA. In her opinion, the statutory health insurance funds should have been obliged to ensure complete accessibility from the outset. “Instead, a low-barrier solution was even brought into play,” says Bentele. However, the success of the ePA depends on its use.

“This exclusion of patients with a disability is an unacceptable disadvantage. It is precisely for this group of people, who often suffer from multiple or serious illnesses, that the ePA could have offered particular added value,” said Bentele. Accordingly, “participation […] is not a gift to a minority, but a question of social justice and fairness and must be mandatory in the healthcare system”. The Vdk is therefore calling for “a quick solution” to give people with disabilities equal access to ePA.

Construction site user-friendliness

The user-friendliness of the ePA and similar applications has been criticized for years. Currently, for example, the login processes and the general use of the ePA are still cumbersome for many patients, and early experiences may also have had a demotivating effect. Digital applications such as the electronic patient record are “made for patients, but unfortunately not with us patients” and “miss our reality and our care needs”, explained cancer blogger Susanne Zsoter in the fall of 2024.

Even during the implementation of the e-prescription, government circles were already saying about the processes surrounding the e-prescription app that not everyone could be included. Subsequently, however, the e-prescription only took off with the possibility of being able to redeem it via the electronic health card. A “participatory process” was launched in 2021 to involve all stakeholders in the digitalization of the healthcare system. However, it was reported in various circles that the process was not as participatory as initially promised.

(mack)