FAQs: This is what patients need to know about the e-prescription
In some medical practices and pharmacies in the Berlin-Brandenburg test region, patients have been able to show an electronic prescription on their smartphones instead of the old pink paper prescription since the beginning of July. The planned start for the e-prescription across Germany was actually January 1, 2022.
“For the patient, we mainly see advantages through the e-prescription,” says Sabine Wolter, consultant for health law at the consumer center in North Rhine-Westphalia. “The patient is spared walking.” The test phase will show where there may still be a need for readjustment, according to the consumer advocate.
Where and from when is the e-prescription available?
The electronic prescription will start in Berlin and Brandenburg on July 1, 2021. “In this so-called focus region there are around 50 medical practices and 120 pharmacies that test and evaluate the e-prescription,” said Gabriele Regina Overwiening, President of the Federal Association of German Pharmacists’ Associations (ABDA). That is around every tenth pharmacy in the region. In participating practices, patients can choose to receive a paper or e-prescription.
The plan was to make the e-prescription mandatory for all those with statutory health insurance and all contract doctors in Germany by January 1, 2022. The starting shot was postponed shortly before the turn of the year.
Now “the controlled test and pilot operation is to be continued and expanded step by step in the coming weeks”. A new date from which the obligation will take effect has not yet been set.
What about the privately insured?
The blue prescription for privately insured persons will continue to be available in paper form even after the introduction of the e-prescription. “Even privately insured people should have access to the e-prescription in the future,” says consumer advocate Wolter. According to the ABDA, concepts for user-friendly billing are still being developed here. At the moment, privately insured persons have to pay in advance at the pharmacy and then settle the prescription with their health insurance company.
The situation is similar when people with statutory health insurance receive alternative medication for which there is no prescription requirement. You can submit some of these to the health insurance company later. Here, too, doctors continue to issue a green paper prescription.
And how does the e-prescription work?
If you have a smartphone, you first download the free e-prescription app. The app was developed by Gematik, which is responsible for the telematics infrastructure in Germany. The Federal Ministry of Health is the main shareholder in this company.
If you have the app on your smartphone, the doctor no longer prescribes a certain drug on paper, but digitally. “You get a special code on your mobile phone app,” explains consumer advocate Wolter. You can show it to the pharmacy yourself or send it to someone to have the medicine delivered to you. In order for all of this to work, the smartphone must support the NFC transmission standard and have at least iOS 12 or Android 6 as the operating system, explains Gematik.
An electronic health card with NFC function is also required. This can be seen from the six-digit access number under the Germany colors of the card. You also need the card’s PIN number. If you don’t have the PIN, ask your health insurance company.
Anyone who cannot log into the app with the health card – be it because the smartphone does not meet the requirements or the card PIN is not available – can only use it slimmed down: to scan the prescription code from the printout in the doctor’s office, him to be saved in the app and shown on the smartphone in the pharmacy. The added value of this functionality alone is rather poor.
Generally good to know: an e-prescription can also be redeemed in mail-order pharmacies. Billing will continue as before: directly between the pharmacy and the statutory health insurance company.
What do I do if I don’t have a smartphone at all?
Then the code is printed out on paper in the practice – this option still exists and is also necessary if you have the app but are not registered there with the health card and therefore have to scan the code as described above.
The printed code can be read in in the pharmacy just like the digital one. So if you don’t have a smartphone, you won’t be excluded.
What are the advantages of the e-prescription for me?
Ideally, it should save you a lot of travel. “Basically, a patient can go home or to work from the doctor, search for a pharmacy in the app and make a non-binding inquiry as to whether the drug is available,” explains Wolter. As a patient, you have the option of only ordering when a drug is in stock.
If the pharmacy offers a messenger service, they might bring the medication to you in the evening. The consumer advocate expects that pharmacy messenger services will continue to establish themselves with the e-prescription.
If you need a follow-up prescription, for example for chronic illnesses, you may be able to do without a doctor’s visit thanks to the e-prescription. If the doctor knows the patient and their medical history, just give them a call. “If someone does not walk well or does not want to leave the house, the doctor can prescribe medication on a phone call and send an e-prescription,” says ABDA President Overwiening.
In addition, information on intake and dosage as well as the medication plan can be stored on the app. A desired effect of this, according to consumer advocate Wolter: “The pharmacist sees what kind of drugs the patient is already taking and notices if something is not going well.”