What is the ePa (electronic patient record)?

On 01/01/2021 the rollout of the electronic patient record began. Since then you will often hear or read about the so-called ePa. But many people still arent clear about what it is and what its for.

Until now, in the best case the family doctor (GP) collected all a patients findings. That means they referred the patient to specialists when needed and received the findings from the examinations carried out there. The same applied to reports from hospital stays. In some cases patients were given the reports directly with the instruction to hand them to their GP; often the reports were sent directly to the GP. That way a more or less complete file built up in the patient record kept by the GP.

Findings that were needed for specialist treatment, hospital stays, or rehab had to be requested from the GP. But in an emergency those findings were usually missing, along with important information.

The electronic patient record is intended to solve this problem. It can collect all of a patients findings in one place. These are then available at any time in the free app or on the health card. In addition, an emergency data set (NFD) can be stored in the ePa, listing all information relevant in an emergency such as diagnoses, allergies, the current medication plan, pregnancy, etc. You can also record a contact person to be notified in an emergency.

The ePa is designed to be a patient-controlled record. Health insurers provide the ePa for every insured person who has not actively objected to its creation. This new version, using an opt-out system, willafter a pilot phase starting in January 2025be rolled out gradually to all patients. Existing ePas that were requested by insured persons under the opt-in system will be updated to the new version. Features will also be made available step by step. At the beginning the ePa will be introduced as a basic "skeleton" record, and its scope of use will expand over time.
The free app provided by the health insurers can be downloaded by the patient to a smartphone or tablet and used there. Alternatively, the ePa is also available on the health card.

The patient decides whether and how to use the ePa, which data are stored in it, and who gets access to which data.

They can also decide which documents should be deleted again or who should have their access to the data revoked. In the long run, findings and other records should be archived here for a persons entire life. There is intended to be only one ePa per patient.

Specifically, storing the emergency data set (NFD) on the health card is an important improvement over the previous practice. In an emergency it avoids time-consuming searches, saves valuable time, and gives emergency responders immediate information about the patients medical history and current medications.

Healthcare providers include not only doctors but also therapists, pharmacies, and other persons or institutions involved in treatment. However, data are not transferred automatically here either; the desired files must be deliberately copied to the health card or to the ePa available there. The originals remain with the respective doctor, therapist, etc., as before.

In general, only people who have been authorized by the patient have access to the ePa.

Neither the operators of the ePa nor the health insurer can access the collected data. One special case is the NFD: in an emergency, doctors, emergency personnel and others who hold an electronic health professional ID can access it without the patients consent (the patient may not be able to give consent in an emergency). Every access is recorded on the health card and can therefore be reviewed later.

Data protection is a top priority: the servers for the ePa are located in Germany. The ePa is therefore subject to European data protection regulations. Providers must also go through extensive certification processes before they can make the ePa available.

What should be stored in the electronic patient record (ePa)?

As mentioned above, the ePa should ideally accompany us for life. Starting with the child and adolescent health check-ups (U-examinations), vaccinations, allergies, and blood type, you can also store items such as the maternity record (Mutterpass), the dental bonus booklet, and of course all further findings. Also to be included are services you have used from your health insurer, data from health apps, information on nursing care, even the electronic sick note and electronic prescriptions to document your medication history. You can, for example, also store your PDF report from BloodPressureDB in your ePa.

Overall, the electronic patient record (ePa) is a very useful innovation. But it also makes the patient a partner responsible for their own medical care. The best record is useless if it isnt maintained. So it is also the patients responsibility to keep it up to date and, when necessary, to release relevant findings to their doctor.

Data protection for the ePa is repeatedly discussed. These are sensitive data that should not fall into the wrong hands. To make the ePa secure, as mentioned above, everything possible is being done.

Sources:

This article comes from BloodPressureDB – the leading app since 2011 that helps hundreds of thousands monitor their blood pressure every day. Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 01/2025).

Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as in outpatient care, and has led BloodPressureDB's specialist editorial team since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as a paramedic, first responder and in various therapy and emergency areas, she provides solid, practical and reliably reviewed information.

What is the ePa (electronic patient record)?

What should be stored in the electronic patient record (ePa)?

Sources:

Registry: