MEDICA MEDIA: The Electronic Health Card is coming

... at least as a test run in the North Rhine region in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). All involved in the project appeared optimistic and pleased at the panel discussion at the opening of MEDICA MEDIA.20/11/2008

Busy already on the first day -
MEDICA MEDIA © Messe
Düsseldorf 2008

The major topic at the MEDICA MEDIA 2008 is the Electronic Health Card. The enormous potential of telematics is recognized across Europe, said Dr. Walter Döllinger, State Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of the federal state NRW, in his opening speech. Systems should be standardised to make the data usable transnationally.

Certificated devices to read the data of the insured have been developed and, if everything goes well, will come into operation in hospitals already next year, adds Dr. Leonhard Hansen, the chairman of the Association of Statuary Health Insurance Physicians North Rhine. To create as few problems as possible during the transition period for the medical staff, these devices can read all health cards - electronic ones as well as the usual insurance cards. "The staff will not even notice which kind of card was read", says Hansen.

The expense factor: 430 Euros for a stationary device plus 215 Euros for its installation, and 375 Euros for a portable reading device. This is relatively costly - however, the expense has to be viewed as an investment in the future, in order to be well-equipped for the times to come, says Günther van Aalst, speaking on behalf of the Techniker Krankenkasse.

With the introduction of the Electronic Health Card in Bochum and Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia takes a role as frontrunner in Germany. Remaining criticism of the program should be disproved by future discussions and above all by employing savvy methods at its introduction. "Everybody laughed at the introduction of the toll system because it did not run well in the beginning", argues Döllinger. From that experience, he says, lessons can be learned for the introduction of the health card.