Following a test period in three regions, Electronic Patient Files (ePAs) will be rolled out nationwide across Germany from April 29. Here’s what patients need to know:

German doctors to use ePAs from April 29

Starting April 29, doctors' offices and clinics in Germany will be able to use Electronic Patient Files (Elektronische Patientenakte or ePAs) to access and store their patients’ medical information.

The nationwide roll-out comes after a regional trial period. Doctors in Hamburg, Franconia and North Rhine-Westphalia have been able to use the system since January 15, 2025.

Doctors will be able to access and store the medical information in an online database. Until now, medical professionals were reliant on new patients’ own accounts of their prior and existing health conditions and treatments, rather than an official record logged by other professionals.

Under the new system, doctors will be able to insert a patient's health insurance card into a reader during an appointment to access the ePA. Patients will also be able to access their own ePA via the app of their health insurance provider.

From October, it will be mandatory for all doctors’ offices and medical clinics to offer the ePA service. Even after October, at any time, patients are free to opt out of having their medical information saved in the database and can have the previously saved information wiped.

The German Health Ministry hopes that the new system will reduce paper and fax bureaucracy, alongside waiting times for requested files to be shared between clinics, especially in emergencies.

Is the ePA medical database secure?

Since it was announced that the new system would be trialled, there have been cybersecurity concerns about the ePA database. The system is run by Gematik, the medical technology company also responsible for rolling out Germany’s electronic health insurance cards and e-prescription systems.

The German Health Ministry claims that the medical database is saved on secure servers, encrypted and “extremely safe”. Multiple functions have been further developed since December 2024, after the international hacking organisation Chaos Computer Club found holes in the system.

Speaking at a press conference on April 16, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said the system was, by international comparison, “one of the more secure, and maybe most secure, electronic patient file systems”. 

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