Germany Mandates Electronic Patient File Integration for Healthcare Providers

Nationwide Integration of Electronic Patient Files Begins

Today, October 1, 2025, marks a pivotal moment in Germany's healthcare system as the integration of the electronic patient file (ePA) becomes mandatory for all doctors' offices, hospitals, and pharmacies across the country. This directive, part of the comprehensive Digital-Gesetz (DigiG), aims to streamline medical data exchange and enhance patient care through advanced digitalization.

While healthcare providers are now required to support and integrate the ePA into their daily operations, the system's rollout for patients began earlier this year. Since January 15, 2025, an ePA has been automatically created for all individuals with statutory health insurance under an opt-out model. Patients retain the right to object to the creation of their ePA or to have their data deleted retrospectively.

Key Objectives and Benefits of the ePA

The primary goal of the ePA is to centralize and secure health information, making it readily accessible to authorized healthcare professionals. This digital transformation is expected to yield several benefits:

• Improved Data Exchange: Facilitates seamless sharing of medical findings, doctors' letters, and lab results between different healthcare providers.
• Enhanced Treatment Decisions: Provides doctors with a comprehensive overview of a patient's medical history, leading to more informed diagnoses and treatment plans.
• Prevention of Duplication: Helps avoid unnecessary duplicate examinations and tests.
• Medication Safety: Integrates e-prescriptions and medication overviews to prevent unwanted drug interactions.
• Patient Empowerment: Patients can access their own health data via dedicated apps or their electronic health card, maintaining control over who accesses their information.

The Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), which spearheaded the Digital-Gesetz, and Gematik, the national agency responsible for digital health applications, have been instrumental in developing and implementing the ePA system.

Implementation Timeline and Future Developments

The journey to today's mandatory integration has been phased. The ePA was initially introduced as an optional service in 2021. Following the patient opt-out model launch in January, a nationwide rollout for doctors' offices and clinics to actively use the ePA began on April 29, 2025, after successful test phases in regions such as Hamburg, Franconia, and North Rhine-Westphalia.

While the system promises significant advancements, concerns regarding cybersecurity have been raised. However, the German Health Ministry asserts that the ePA system is 'one of the more secure, and maybe most secure, electronic patient file systems' globally, with data encrypted and stored on secure German servers. Looking ahead, Gematik has already approved new functionalities for the ePA, including an expanded electronic medication plan (eMP) and push notifications for patients, with further implementation planned for 2026.

Impact on Healthcare Providers and Patients

Healthcare providers are now tasked with fully integrating the ePA into their workflows. Reimbursement schemes are in place to compensate doctors for the initial and ongoing management of patient files within the system. For patients, the ePA represents a shift towards a more transparent and interconnected healthcare experience, offering a centralized digital record of their health journey.