E-prescription system difficulties frustrate pharmacy staff
The digitalization of Germany's healthcare system is underway, but the current unreliability of the e-prescription system is causing concern. Thomas Preis, head of the Federal Association, has stated that the electronic prescription is outpacing Deutsche Bahn in terms of unreliability[1].
In recent weeks, there have been several days with complete or significant disruptions, cutting off access to e-prescriptions[1][3]. These interruptions are affecting tens of thousands of patients and creating operational challenges for pharmacies, impacting timely access to medications[1][2].
Key problems include frequent outages, partial system failures, dependency on external providers, and operational impact on pharmacies[1][2][3]. Some of the outages are traced back to issues with service providers managing parts of the digital infrastructure, complicating swift resolution[3]. Pharmacists report these outages as causing chaos, delaying medication delivery, and complicating their workflow[1][2].
Suggested solutions and responses include urgent improvements in system stability, greater operational flexibility for pharmacies, continuous monitoring and incident resolution, legal and regulatory scrutiny, and the implementation of an early warning system[1][2][3]. The German Foundation for Patient Protection has demanded an early warning system for disruptions in the e-prescription system and is advocating for more accountability from Gematik in managing these disruptions[2].
Gematik, the responsible society for the e-prescription system, admits that there have been disruptions affecting certain components and services needed for its use[2]. However, they claim that there are rarely restrictions that affect the overall infrastructure of the e-prescription system[2].
In response to these challenges, Gematik is actively working to improve the reliability and stability of the e-prescription system[2][3]. They are communicating with healthcare providers to restore services quickly, though recurring issues reveal the need for stronger preventative measures[2][3].
The mandatory deployment of e-prescriptions aims to modernize and simplify healthcare, but Germany currently faces significant reliability challenges that require urgent technical, operational, and regulatory responses to secure consistent access to prescription medications and maintain patient safety[1][2][3]. The German Foundation for Patient Protection has called for an end to the "era of the black box e-prescription" and the implementation of a "daily e-prescription radar" to inform doctors directly about the system's functionality[2].
Patients have the option to receive their prescriptions as paper printouts if they wish, but the reliability of the e-prescription system needs to be significantly improved, according to Thomas Preis[1]. The demand for an early warning system was made to prevent disruptions from affecting patients' access to necessary medications.
References: [1] German News Agency [2] Deutsche Welle [3] Der Spiegel
- The ongoing digitalization of Germany's healthcare system, particularly the e-prescription system, is causing concern due to its unreliability, which has outpaced even the notorious unreliability of Deutsche Bahn.
- The e-prescription system's recurring outages, partial system failures, and dependency on external providers are causing operational challenges for pharmacies, leading to delays in medication delivery and disruptions affecting tens of thousands of patients.
- Calls for urgent improvements in system stability, greater operational flexibility for pharmacies, continuous monitoring and incident resolution, legal and regulatory scrutiny, and the implementation of an early warning system are increasingly being made to secure consistent access to prescription medications and maintain patient safety.
