- High acceptance: 53.7 per cent of Germans say they want to use e-prescriptions digitally
- eco Association: “Momentum among the population for more digitalisation in the healthcare sector”
Since the beginning of the year, doctors have been obliged to issue e-prescriptions that can be redeemed in pharmacies using an app or the electronic health card (eGK). The majority of Germans (53.7 per cent) welcome this and say they would like to use e-prescriptions digitally in the future. 36.4 per cent would like to redeem e-prescriptions using an electronic health card (eGK), while a further 17.3 per cent say they want to use the smartphone app for e-prescriptions. These are the results of a population-representative survey of 2,500 Germans conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry at the beginning of January 2024.
“The high level of acceptance for the e-prescription signals a momentum among the population for more digitalisation in the healthcare sector. People are open to digital innovations and want to benefit from them,” says eco’s Managing Director Alexander Rabe. “The e-prescription is a successful example of how digitalisation can simplify and speed up procedures and processes. At the same time, it promotes sustainability aspects by saving paper and increases the general level of security when handling personal data.” The end-to-end encrypted data transmission ensures that no unauthorised persons or server operators can access personal data. “The electronic prescription cannot be forgotten or lost anywhere, so it is generally more secure than the paper version,” Rabe goes on to say.
A total of 68.8 per cent of Germans stated that they want to use the e-prescription, with 15.1 per cent wanting to continue to have the e-prescription printed out. At 19.4 per cent, around a fifth stated that they would not use e-prescriptions in the future.
