Pharmacy employees voice concerns about malfunctions within the electronic prescription system
Germany's E-Prescription System Faces Reliability Challenges
The e-prescription system in Germany, which has been mandatory for prescription medications since January 2024, has been under scrutiny due to its frequent and disruptive outages, causing significant concerns among pharmacists and patient protection organizations.
Pharmacists, represented by the German Federal Union of Pharmacists' Associations (ABDA), have criticized the system for its unreliability, with multiple instances of total or major failures in just two weeks, affecting tens of thousands of patients and posing potential health risks[1][2]. Thomas Preis, ABDA chairman, has compared the system's unreliability to the famously delayed Deutsche Bahn trains and called for Gematik, the responsible society for the e-prescription system, to urgently enhance system robustness and reliability[1][2].
Gematik has acknowledged that many disruptions stem from external service provider issues and partial outages of the telematics infrastructure (TI), which supports e-prescriptions, electronic patient records (ePA), and health card services. Recent outages affecting TI gateways and communication platforms (like the Arvato and RISE gateways) have been reported but resolved relatively quickly[3][4].
In response to these challenges, Gematik is working on identifying and fixing technical problems causing system interruptions. They are also supporting pilot projects and model regions to test and optimize telematics infrastructure applications before wider rollout, enhancing reliability and user experience[5]. Gematik is also engaging with pharmacies and healthcare providers to incorporate feedback and improve digital services.
Pharmacists demand that, alongside these technical improvements, Gematik implements emergency flexibility regulations that would allow pharmacists to dispense medications even when the digital system is offline, to avoid leaving patients without urgently needed treatments during outages[1][2]. Pharmacist associations like the Free Pharmacists' Association (FA) are also exploring potential legal actions regarding losses caused by system failures, urging Gematik to assume responsibility for compensation if warranted[3].
To address the need for transparency, the German Foundation for Patient Protection has demanded an early warning system for disruptions in the e-prescription system and monthly disruption reports from Gematik[6]. Gematik is also working towards providing more convenience by allowing follow-up prescriptions to be issued without another patient visit using the e-prescription system, reducing trips to the doctor's office[7].
These steps reflect an ongoing effort to balance the goal of healthcare digitalization with the urgent operational reliability and patient protection concerns voiced by pharmacists and patient advocacy groups in Germany[1][2][3][4][5][6][7].
References: 1. Pharmacists call for more flexibility in e-prescription system 2. E-prescription system under fire for frequent outages 3. Legal action threatened over e-prescription system failures 4. Gematik addresses e-prescription system reliability concerns 5. Gematik supports pilot projects to optimize telematics infrastructure 6. Patient Protection Foundation calls for e-prescription system transparency 7. E-prescriptions to reduce trips to the doctor's office
- The e-prescription system's unreliability has led pharmacists to compare it to Germany's famously delayed Deutsche Bahn trains.
- There have been instances of total or major failures in Germany's e-prescription system that have affected tens of thousands of patients, potentially posing health risks.
- Gematik is working on improving the e-prescription system's reliability and user experience by identifying technical problems, supporting pilot projects, and engaging with healthcare providers.
