The electronic patient record explained

Yes, initially your electronic patient record is empty. There is no automatic transfer of your past medical documents. Your doctors will gradually fill your electronic patient record with the documents and data they generate. You also have the option of uploading existing medical documents to your record yourself via the Barmer eCare-App.

Very practical: your e-prescription data are automatically transferred to the electronic patient record to create your personal medication list. Once a quarter, Barmer will then create an overview of all the healthcare services you have received from doctors' practices or hospitals.

Yes, in order to keep the electronic patient record up to date, it is important to update the data if your state of health or course of treatment changes.
Doctors who you authorize to update your data are obliged to do so at your request. This data comprises information that is collected as part of your current treatment and is available in digital form, such as laboratory results, therapy reports or doctor's letters.

Yes, you can reject certain functions and still benefit from the electronic patient record. The following functions can be blocked individually:

• The automatic transfer of the overview of all health insurance services you have received
• The automatic transfer of your e-prescription data

If you do not wish to use these functions, you can block them yourself via the Barmer eCare-App or by contacting the Trust Office at Barmer. 

If you change your mind later, you can reactivate the functions at any time.

At a later date, it will be possible to forward data from your patient record to the Federal Health Data Lab. You will also be able to block this using the methods mentioned above if you wish.

Yes, you can hide individual documents from view via the Barmer eCare-App. The document will then only be visible to you, and none of your authorized service providers will have access to it.

In principle, institutions have access to all data in the electronic patient record, provided you have authorized them via the eCare-App or with your e-health card.
A block is automatically stored in certain cases and cannot be bypassed:

• The dental bonus booklet is invisible to pharmacies, midwives,  physical therapy practices and emergency paramedics 
• The vaccination record is invisible to physical therapy practices
• Electronic certificates of sick leave, organ and tissue donation declarations, data on medical treatment and rehabilitation as well as copies of the treatment documentation are invisible to pharmacies, nursing staff, midwives, physical therapy practices and emergency paramedics 

In addition, you have the option of hiding documents via eCare as you wish, managing the access duration of an institution or blocking access for an institution.

Yes. Emergency paramedics can access your record in an emergency. To do this, your e-health card must be inserted into a card reader.  They can then access your patient record  for three days.

Not all practices and clinics yet have the technical equipment to view and fill out the electronic patient record. Ask your clinic or practice whether the technical options already exist.

The electronic patient record is part of the German healthcare system. Doctors' practices abroad are not connected and therefore cannot be authorized to access it. However, it can be advantageous when traveling abroad if you have your health documents with you in BARMER eCare. This way you can easily look up information if necessary.

Yes, the electronic patient record is for insured persons of all ages – including children. It is created automatically, regardless of age. For newborns, it takes a few weeks after birth. However, if the parents do not want an electronic patient record for their child under the age of 15, they can object to this by contacting the health insurance fund. If the insured person is between the ages of 15 and 17, they can decide for themselves after consulting their parents.

No. Use of the electronic patient record is voluntary for you. You will not experience any disadvantages in your medical treatment if you do not use it. Your healthcare will be provided as usual via the established procedures.

Yes, you can have your entire electronic patient record deleted at any time. You can request this either yourself via the Barmer eCare-App or from Barmer. As a result, all data will be irrevocably deleted.

Yes. If you change your health insurance provider, BARMER will automatically transfer your electronic patient record, including documents, authorizations for doctors and people representing you to the subsequent health insurance provider.

If you objected to the creation of the medication list and the transfer of your healthcare services overview, the rejection will also be passed on to the subsequent health insurance provider.

If you have blocked a practice or another facility, the block will remain in place.