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E-prescription has actually been compulsory in Germany since 01 January 2022, but you can also use it without a smartphone. If you use neither an app nor a mobile phone, nothing changes for you as a patient except for one small aspect.
E-Prescription without smartphone: How to redeem it
Until now, if your doctor prescribed you a medicine, you received a coloured paper slip that you had to show or redeem at the pharmacy. The e-prescription, which will soon be mandatory, works similarly if you don’t use a smartphone.
- If your doctor prescribes you a medicine in future during your visit to the doctor, he or she will store the relevant patient data on the server of the doctor’s practice. This data is encrypted and can only be read by the doctor’s practice and the pharmacy. Data protection should be very high.
- Instead of handing you a handwritten and signed prescription, you now get a code that resembles a QR code. Normally you get this code directly on your mobile phone, but if you don’t use it, the doctor will print it out for you.
- The code on the sheet of paper is your “key” so that the pharmacy can read your data on the doctor’s office server.
- Comparable to the pink paper slip, you now go to a pharmacy of your choice with the printed code and show it there. Once the code has been scanned and the data read out, you will receive your medicine. You can only fill the prescription once.
- Note: So far, only the pink prescription vouchers are affected by digitalisation. Gradually, the green and private prescriptions will also be converted to the electronic version. In future, the tried and tested paper prescriptions will only be available if there are technical problems or if doctors make home visits.
Why e-prescription at all?
Digital prescriptions are intended to significantly speed up, simplify and make more secure the processes in the healthcare system.
- Pharmacies can bill patient prescriptions much faster. As a patient, you will also receive your medication faster – at least if you use the associated app from gematik. The app is available for Android, iOS and Huawei.
- Handwritten annotations and creased or misplaced prescriptions are eliminated with the e-prescription. This also means that possible errors at the expense of patients can be avoided. In addition, the patient data are collected in the database – possible interactions with other medicines can thus be easily circumvented.
- As a patient, you benefit from the simplification especially if you use the app. However, you can then fill prescriptions from home using the code on your smartphone and simply have the medication sent to you by a mail-order pharmacy. Your doctor can send you follow-up prescriptions linked to video consultations on your smartphone, saving you a trip to the doctor’s office.
- In addition to the advantages, the e-prescription also has disadvantages, of course. For example, a stable internet connection is necessary, the technology has to work and you as a patient can no longer easily see exactly which medicines your doctor has prescribed for you.
What you should also consider
If you do decide you want to use the app, there are a few things you should keep in mind when setting it up.
- There is supposed to be a PC-based “application for insured persons”. However, this will only allow you to view your prescriptions and delete old ones – to redeem them, you will have to present either the app on your smartphone or the printed code from your doctor at the pharmacy.
- In order to be able to use the gematik app at all, you need a smartphone with an NFC interface and as well as an operating system that runs on at least iOS 14 or Android 7.
- Also make sure to download the official gematik app for Android, iOS or Huawei. Then follow the steps for registration.
- Have your health card ready for this, which must also be NFC-enabled. Contact your health insurance company if you are unsure whether your card already has this function.
- You will also receive the PIN required for registration from the health insurance fund. The CAN number you need for identification can be found in the top right-hand corner of your health card.
