Digital Health: "Data Protection Streamlined" – Platforms Live, What's Next?

Contents

What remains of the digital awakening in healthcare – and who is responsible for ensuring that digitalization actually reaches patient care? With these questions, moderator Ecky Oesterhoff, board member of the Federal Association for Health IT (bvitg), opened the “parliamentary summary on health digitalization” at DMEA 2026. On the panel: Tino Sorge, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health (CDU), Matthias Mieves, Member of the German Bundestag (SPD) and a key architect of health digitalization in the “Ampel” era, and Dr. Florian Fuhrmann, CEO of Gematik. A recurring topic of discussion was the GeDIG – the “Law for Data and Digital Innovation in Healthcare,” which was leaked as a draft bill a few weeks ago.

What remains of the “Ampel”?

Matthias Mieves presented a confident assessment of the last legislative period. The central platforms are established: “The ePA is ready, the e-prescription is ready.” The foundation has been laid – now it's about implementation. He formulated the ambitious goal: “In Germany, we need a system where in five to ten years we can say that every person in Germany who wants to, is allowed to, and can have a digital twin, which is used to align prevention at an early stage so that many diseases don't even occur, don't worsen, and can be treated better.”

Tino Sorge saw continuity between the Health Data Use Act (GDNG) of the “Ampel” government and the GeDIG. The direction is undisputed across party lines – the Union largely supported the GDNG at the time. The statements from all participants on the leaked draft left no doubt that the law significantly shaped the discussion.

Cultural Change: “Data Protection Streamlined”

“I still remember times when we had a data protection officer who said, 'the ePA is devil's work,'” Tino Sorge recalled. The reflex was always the same: if digitalization went wrong somewhere, the alarmists immediately appeared. “No digitalization, preferably everything by fax. And that has now fundamentally changed.” Mieves summarized it concisely: “We have streamlined data protection.” This refers to the reduction of bureaucratic hurdles that, according to the politicians, had long blocked the pragmatic use of health data.

For Sorge, this cultural change was the prerequisite for everything else. Politics should not make the mistake of wanting to dictate technological developments down to the smallest detail: “As politicians, we must open the door and then actually create a positive narrative.” Mieves added regarding AI: For broad use in healthcare, Germany needs better datasets and more practical data protection regulations: “Then we must also make the data protection regulations in Germany so practical that we achieve broad use.” The Federal Ministry of Health is simultaneously pushing for more speed in data access for AI and the European Health Data Space.

More Power for Gematik, but No Software Manufacturer

Dr. Florian Fuhrmann explained what the GeDIG specifically means for Gematik. The organization will gain more powers – for example, in central procurement and the control of TI components. However, developing its own software is explicitly not the goal: “We do not intend to [...] develop an ePA ourselves. [...] We are not software manufacturers.”

Gematik needs more leverage to fulfill its responsibilities: “The goal of the law is indeed to give us more leverage, so that we can better exercise the responsibility we have had for many years.” The reason is obvious: “We have 1.3 billion e-prescriptions that have been redeemed since launch. We have 100 million uploaded documents. This must be available almost 100 percent. We see that the instruments we have been given are not sufficient to ensure this maximum stability.”

When asked if he needed more staff for this, Fuhrmann answered unequivocally: “Of course, additional tasks must be performed by people I need for them.”

Too Much Complexity, Even at the Trade Fairs

Mieves identified complexity as the central structural obstacle. The TI has too many small players, and system failures can bring entire practices to a standstill: “I am still approached by pharmacists and doctors who tell me: If my systems are down on Monday morning, the entire practice is down. And that drives people mad.”

Fuhrmann specified the problem using the example of VPN access services: “Do you need [...] 24 different VPN access services?” You need more than one, because you don't want a single point of failure, of course. “But do you need 24? Maybe 5 is exactly right.”

Mieves went even further – and made a direct, unusually clear demand to the industry itself considering the move of DMEA and the competing event planned by Messe Berlin. “What we don't need is to hold two trade fairs in two different locations in April 2027 that address the same topics, the same target groups, the same directions. This creates unnecessary complexity; it costs energy; it costs impact. I ask you, I urge you, Bitkom, BVITG, sit down together, make one strong trade fair out of it.”

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Digital Primary Care: Please Not “DePri”

Another focus was the outlook on the planned Digital Primary Care Act, which, according to Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken's announcement, is expected this autumn. Oesterhoff noted that, according to the BMG's usual naming conventions, the law would logically be abbreviated as “DePri,” which he strongly advised against.

In terms of content, everyone agreed: for functioning digital primary care, digital initial assessment, electronic referral, telemedicine, and appointment scheduling are needed. Warken had announced at DMEA that the expansion of the ePA to include digital initial assessment and appointment brokering is planned for this year. Mieves pointed to an already functioning example: In Lower Saxony, the KV has already restructured its on-call service – with standardized digital initial assessment without on-site medical staff and video calls when required.

Fuhrmann announced that Gematik is already ready to go regarding e-referrals: “As soon as the law [GeDIG] is in place, we will start immediately.”

He described the current situation with unusual openness: “We have so much pressure. The finance commission has laid out the cards for us. We cannot look at the inefficiencies and continue to put money on them like a band-aid and say: 'We'll do this through a compromise process to make everyone happy.' That will no longer work.”

(vza)