Struggles voiced by pharmacy staff over issues in electronic prescription management system
The electronic prescription system in Germany, set to become mandatory by January 2024, is currently experiencing numerous issues related to stability and reliability. These problems, which include system crashes, difficulties in creating and redeeming e-prescriptions, and service provider malfunctions, are causing significant disruptions for pharmacies and patients alike.
Recent outages have affected tens of thousands of patients, with some instances resulting in complete or significant system downtime for multiple days. Between late May and early June, disruptions occurred on 8 out of 14 days in the telematics infrastructure that supports e-prescriptions. Specific service providers, such as Medisign, have been identified as recurring sources of faults, impacting the use of health professional ID cards and communication services critical to e-prescriptions.
These outages also affect other digital health services like the electronic patient record (ePA) and disease reporting systems, adding to the complexity of the situation. Pharmacies face increased workload and uncertainty due to these failures, which can hinder timely medication supply and patient care.
In response to these issues, the German pharmacists' association has urged the federal digital agency Gematik to urgently enhance system stability and reliability. Gematik, the responsible society for the e-prescription system, admits that there have been components and services affected by recent disruptions. They attribute many outages to external service provider problems and are presumably working to resolve them.
Pharmacists ask for greater operational flexibility to allow quick and less bureaucratic medication dispensing during digital outages. The broader healthcare system is undergoing modernization efforts, such as mandates for hospitals to upgrade IT systems by 2027, aiming to improve digital infrastructure and capacity.
However, there is ongoing criticism and pressure for more robust, secure technical infrastructure and better maintenance coordination to reduce unplanned downtimes. Eugen Brysch, a board member of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, has stated that the "era of the black box e-prescription" should end immediately. He proposes a "daily e-prescription radar" to inform doctors directly about the system's functionality and demands that Health Minister Nina Warken instructs Gematik to submit a monthly disruption report.
In summary, the German e-prescription system currently struggles with stability and frequent outages due to technical faults and service provider issues, causing considerable disruption in pharmacies and patient care. To improve reliability, authorities are called upon to strengthen digital infrastructure, resolve provider-related faults, and enable pharmacies to manage medication dispensing more flexibly during telematics failures.
- The ongoing issues with the e-prescription system in Germany, owing to problems within the technology, service providers, and general news related to system instability and reliability, have led to significant disruptions in medical-conditions treatment, health-and-wellness, and the overall functioning of the system.
- Recent advancements in science, such as the mandate for hospitals to modernize IT systems by 2027, are aimed at improving the digital infrastructure and capacity of the medical sector, with the hope of reducing issues like those plaguing the e-prescription system.
- Despite the efforts to upgrade the healthcare system, there is a persistent call for robust and secure technical infrastructure, better maintenance coordination to minimize unplanned downtimes, and increased transparency, as suggested by Eugen Brysch, who advocates for a "daily e-prescription radar" and monthly disruption reports from Gematik to ensure optimal system operation.
