At the 125th German Medical Congress, which ended on Tuesday in Berlin, there was criticism of an uncoordinated introduction of the telematics infrastructure (TI) in the health system and the new digital services based on it. For example, Klaus Reinhardt, President of the German Medical Association, appealed to the future federal government to take a break from digitization in this area. Wieland Dietrich, Chairman of the Free Medical Association (FÄ) and delegate, emphasized: “Practicability, safety and benefits are simply not given.”
To compulsorily connect more and more institutions such as clinics and practices to the TI is “not only amateurish, but also dangerous,” explained Dietrich. With massive pressure, something is being pressed into the healthcare system that neither works in practice nor is safe, according to the FÄ boss, was the mood of many doctors. This will not improve health care in Germany.
Immature and risky
At the hybrid congress, many of those affected reported massive technical problems with the TI in medical practices, which hindered the flow of work and placed a heavy burden on the staff. Applications such as the electronic certificate of incapacity for work, the e-prescription and the digital patient file (ePA) are immature and pose high security risks.
“In a badly made system of telematic networking, we are no longer in control of the situation”, Dietrich pointed out. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) expressly warned against “hacking, blackmail and data abuse” in the healthcare sector. The future federal government must “turn back the screw that the outgoing Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) had overdone with numerous laws and carefully check the telematic applications first”. It is important to “include medical expertise and the actual requirements of the base”.
One year digitization moratorium
The currently pending electronic services “permanently change the work processes in practices and clinics”, explained Erik Bodendieck, Co-Chairman of the “Digitization in Health Care” committee of the German Medical Association. They would only be accepted “if the new processes run safely, smoothly and quickly”. This is currently not guaranteed; The responsible society for telematics (Gematik) ignored or dismissed concerns and warnings from the medical days in the past.
The Doctors’ Day therefore requires intensive and comprehensive test phases lasting at least twelve months before TI applications are introduced into everyday practice. In order to further develop these in a user-oriented manner in the future, the Gematik must be restructured. The needs of the shareholders who are responsible for patient care should be given greater consideration. Previously, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) pronounced for a one-year digitization moratorium.
Digitalization brake on data protection?
“Hardly a doctor would use the year break to get used to digitization,” said Spahn in an interview with the “Handelsblatt”, on the other hand, which stayed away from the Doctors’ Day this year. “That’s why it’s better to get on board immediately, constantly improve the system, learn from each other – and yes, help too.” The Christian Democrat therefore advocated a “digital pact for doctors”. The next government must “take money into hand” for investments, training courses, the reorganization of everyday practice and IT security.
According to Spahn, almost 90 percent of the resident doctors are now connected to the TI. You could therefore “soon fill all electronic patient files”. According to plan, the e-prescription will “start gradually” from the beginning of 2022. The corresponding QR code – like the digital boarding pass when flying – will prevail over the long term. As one of the great brakes on digitization, the politician once again identified data protection, for example in the dispute over the ePA. The Federal Data Protection Officer Ulrich Kelber rejected this on Twitter and accused Spahn of making false statements. His employees also worked out “suggestions for improvement to draft bills that were presented late” even at night and on weekends.
(axk)
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