eHealth & telemedicine – Federal Government announces bill

In future, according to the German Federal Government, medical progress and the nationwide provision of health care, even in rural areas, will depend on the use of special forms of telemedicine care. The new legal framework for the setting up and use of the corresponding telematics infrastructure is to be specified and will form the basis for the fast and secure exchange of patient data. On 25 June 2014, the German Federal Ministry of Health already announced the intention to present a bill by the end of 2014.

Now that the first health projects have been implemented in Germany (including the electronic health card) with the increasing use of communication and information technology, it is to be hoped that the new statutory provisions will bestow as much legal security as possible on the parties involved where the collection, storage and transmission of patient data is concerned, and that they will take account of data security and data encryption issues with particular regard to doctor-patient confidentiality.

With a view to the whole spectrum of telemedicine (which is already being increasingly used abroad) ranging from telediagnostics to telesurgery, major challenges still remain in future regarding the adjustment of the legal framework in Germany. If the German Federal Government actually puts its pledge to promote the eHealth landscape in Germany into action, this means that not only will adjustments have to be made to the billing principles of attending doctors; the regulations governing the profession of medical practitioners will also need to be revised in respect of treatment and delegation options where the use of telecommunications is involved. Also, there is still a need for clarification as regards medical practitioner‘s liability, a clear definition of the areas of responsibility where several service providers are involved in providing a single patient with eHealth treatment, and other areas such as the law relating to the advertising of medicines.