The introduction of the electronic patient file (EPR) for all 73 million people with statutory health insurance across Germany is one of the most important German digitization projects. Since the first presentation and introduction of ePA 1.0 in 2021, several million people with statutory health insurance have already voluntarily opened an ePA. Since then, they have benefited from centralized storage of their health data, which reduces duplicate examinations, simplifies medication and enables more individualized treatment.
The roll-out of ePA 3.0, now the third generation of the ePA (also called ePA for all) to those with statutory health insurance, is the decisive milestone towards a modern, digitally networked healthcare system in Germany. The ePA for all creates a standardized infrastructure within which all players in the healthcare system can exchange and manage digital health data easily and securely for the first time. The improved overview of all data and more efficient data management will enable significantly better patient care in the future. New, integrated services will also contribute to this: The ePrescription and digital documents such as the medication list, the medication plan and vaccination or maternity records also use the ePA data. This means that all stakeholders and insured persons always have access to the latest treatment data online. This makes it easier for doctors to provide holistic healthcare and helps, for example, to avoid duplicate treatment or incorrect medication.
The reliable connection of all stakeholders in the healthcare system requires secure and efficient IT networking. The ePA is therefore embedded in gematik’s telematics infrastructure (TI), the nationwide, secure communication infrastructure for healthcare applications.
IBM Health Platform: open platform, secure data centers
The IBM Open Health Platform has formed the technical basis for various central healthcare applications in Germany since 2017. These include the electronic patient file, the ePrescription specialist service, the secure e-mail service “Kommunikation im Medizinwesen” (KIM) for exchanging medical documents and the health ID. In addition, the IBM Open Health Platform forms the basis for a variety of other extended healthcare services, which can also be expanded in the future with new, AI-based functions.
The IBM Open Health Platform is in turn based on Red Hat OpenShift, a proven and comprehensive development and deployment platform for hybrid cloud applications. It has the necessary tools and services to manage and optimize complex hybrid cloud applications such as ePA throughout their entire lifecycle – from development and deployment to the operation of running workloads.
In order to meet the high security and data protection requirements in the healthcare sector, the data for ePA and other services is distributed with high availability across numerous, geographically separated data center locations in the IBM Cloud in Germany. IBM Cloud Satellite technology connects these different storage locations to three highly secure data centers where the data is then processed. IBM has set up these data centers in Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg and Munich specifically for the provision of the ePA and other digital health services.
These data centers are connected to the systems of the individual healthcare players via the gematik telematics infrastructure. For example, in doctors’ surgeries, hospitals, pharmacies and health insurance companies. Insured persons can access their ePA via the app or the website of their health insurance company and view their findings, prescriptions, doctor’s letters, etc.
At the end of the pilot phase, around 50 million of the approximately 73 million ePAs will be created on these IBM systems alone before the nationwide rollout begins. This also includes the ePAs of all insured persons of the largest statutory health and substitute health insurance funds: Techniker Krankenkasse, Barmer Ersatzkasse, Allgemeine Ortskrankenkassen (AOK) as well as VIACTIV, HEK – Hanseatische Krankenkasse and Knappschaft Bahn See (KBS).
With more digital services into the future
For policyholders, the ePA is now at the center of digital healthcare – it is the core of the new, digital healthcare ecosystem. And it is not alone: Advanced health services are integrated into the ePA, enabling comprehensive health management.
However, the ePA for all does not simply provide insured persons with new, digital health services. It is designed to enable a fundamental transformation of healthcare through the sensible, secure use of digital technologies. In the long term, this will lead to better healthcare for all insured persons and thus a healthier society. January 15, 2025 marked the starting point for this future. We at IBM are proud of our contribution to this crucial project for the German healthcare system and will continue to develop the ePA with gematik and the health insurance companies so that its full potential can be better and better exploited.
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Further links
👉 www.ibm.com
Photo: IBM
