Monday, December 8, 2025

Federal Ministry of Health Launches “ePA? Of Course!” Campaign to Strengthen Digital Health Awareness

The digital transformation of the healthcare system continues to gain momentum. With the launch of the new information campaign “ePA? Of Course!”, the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) has intensified its communication efforts around the electronic patient record (ePA) as of December 1, 2025. The goal of this initiative is to provide citizens with accessible, transparent, and comprehensible information about the benefits, functionalities, and data security of this central digital health tool.

Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken emphasizes that the ePA represents the core of modern healthcare delivery. The record enables a structured overview of all relevant health data, supports better interoperability among healthcare providers, avoids duplicate examinations, and helps reduce risks such as adverse drug interactions. Insured individuals always remain in control of their data.

Background and Objectives of the Campaign

The campaign targets all individuals insured under the statutory health insurance system who have been able to use their ePA since January 2025, unless they opted out. Since October 1, 2025, physicians, hospitals, and pharmacies have been required to use the ePA in their clinical workflows. This includes populating the record with all relevant treatment documentation such as medical findings and discharge letters.

Current usage data highlights the strong uptake: nearly 19 million medication lists were accessed in the past week, and approximately 2.7 million documents were uploaded to patient records. These figures demonstrate that the ePA is increasingly becoming a central digital component of healthcare delivery.

Although more than 90 percent of the population is generally aware of the ePA, only about one-third of those familiar with it feel well or very well informed. Another third indicates that, despite knowing about it, they do not feel sufficiently informed. The new campaign aims to address this gap by improving overall awareness, reducing concerns, and strengthening trust in digital health solutions.

Current Features and Future Development

The ePA already includes key medical documents such as reports, findings, and diagnostic summaries. It also provides an automatically populated medication list, fueled by e-prescription data, giving patients an updated overview of their prescribed and dispensed medications – helping prevent safety risks such as drug interactions.

Further development stages are planned for 2026 and beyond. These include the digitally supported medication process (dgMP), structured laboratory reports, a concise electronic patient summary, and reminder functions for users via push notifications. All enhancements will be developed in alignment with the needs of patients and healthcare professionals.

With the campaign “ePA? Of Course!”, the BMG is sending a clear signal in favor of transparency, trust, and the continued expansion of a digitally connected healthcare system.