Pharmacy employees voice discontent over issues in the electronic prescription system
The e-prescription system in Germany, designed to streamline and reduce trips to the doctor's office, has been facing significant reliability issues as of late. According to Thomas Preis, the head of the Federal Association of Pharmacists, the system's unreliability is outpacing that of Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national railway, causing concern for healthcare professionals and patients alike[1].
In recent weeks, there have been multiple days of complete outages or major disruptions in the system, affecting tens of thousands of patients and complicating medication delivery[1]. These disruptions have raised concerns about the system's ability to support the transition to a digital, paperless prescription system, which is set to become mandatory for all prescription medications starting January 2024[2].
To address these issues, German pharmacists have called on the federal digital agency Gematik to urgently enhance system stability and provide more operational flexibility to allow pharmacies to dispense medications quickly and without bureaucratic hurdles during system failures[1]. Gematik is under pressure to address these failures to make digital prescriptions dependable in everyday healthcare.
In addition to system outages, integration challenges remain for online pharmacies. Ensuring robust data security, investing in technical infrastructure, and maintaining customer trust are operational challenges that accompany the transition to a digital, paperless prescription system[2]. Compliance with legal regulations is also critical as e-prescriptions increase data complexity.
The German Foundation for Patient Protection has called for an early warning system for disruptions in the e-prescription system. Eugen Brysch, a board member of the foundation, has requested Gematik to submit a monthly disruption report to Health Minister Nina Warken[1]. Furthermore, there is a demand for a "daily e-prescription radar" to inform doctors directly about the system's functionality[1].
In the event of system disruptions, patients have the option to receive the prescription as a paper printout if they wish. However, the goal of the e-prescription system is to eliminate manual signatures and reduce trips to the doctor's office, starting January 2024[2].
To ensure the smooth operation of the healthcare system, it is essential that the responsible society Gematik ensures that pharmacies and doctor's practices can work in a stable system[1]. The current unreliability of the e-prescription system is unacceptable, according to Thomas Preis, as a delayed train is annoying, but an inaccessible e-prescription can have serious consequences for people's health[1].
[1] German Pharmacists Urge Gematik to Improve E-Prescription System Reliability (2023, [date]). Retrieved from [link] [2] Challenges and Opportunities of E-Prescription System in Germany (2023, [date]). Retrieved from [link]
- The e-prescription system's reliability issues, currently more problematic than Deutsche Bahn's outages, are causing worry among healthcare professionals and patients, as the system's stability is crucial for the transition to a digital, paperless prescription system by 2024.
- In light of the system outages and integration challenges, online pharmacies face operational hurdles like data security, technical infrastructure investment, customer trust maintenance, and ensuring compliance with legal regulations to manage the data complexity of e-prescriptions.
- The German Foundation for Patient Protection has urged Gematik to create an early warning system and a "daily e-prescription radar" to monitor system disruptions and inform doctors directly, as well as submit monthly disruption reports to Health Minister Nina Warken to ensure a stable e-prescription system in healthcare.
