Electronic prescription (e-prescription)

and Christiane Fux, medical editor

Maximilian Reindl studied chemistry and biochemistry at the LMU in Munich and has been a member of the editorial team since December 2020. He will familiarize himself with medical, scientific and health policy topics for you in order to make them understandable and comprehensible.

What is an e-prescription?

The electronic prescription (e-prescription) replaces the previously valid pink paper prescription that your doctor previously issued to you. Your pharmacy now has all the important data of the prescription in digital form.

What information does the e-prescription contain?

The e-prescription contains all the data that is also on the paper prescription:

Details of the drug
Information about your health insurance
Your doctor's address
Date of issuance
Validity of the prescription
Information on possible alternatives if the prescribed medication is not available ("aut-idem" rule)

E-prescription also for privately insured persons?

The “blue prescription” for those with private insurance will remain in paper form for the time being. However, privately insured persons should also have access to the e-prescription in the future - a corresponding concept is currently being developed.

When is the e-prescription coming?

Many doctors will issue the e-prescription from July 1st, 2021. During a six-month transition period, “classic” paper prescriptions are still available for those with statutory health insurance.

From January 1, 2022, all doctors will be obliged to use e-prescriptions exclusively for statutory health insurance patients. They then apply to all pharmacy-only drugs. Exceptions apply for the time being for the prescription of narcotics - however, their integration into the overall concept is already being planned.

How does the e-prescription work?

The doctor first stores the prescription in the form of a digital prescription in the telematics infrastructure and digitally signs it. This can also be done during a video consultation.

The pharmacy can later access the prescription via a so-called QR code, which is also generated via the telematics infrastructure. The code is similar to the barcodes you know from packaging. However, it stores significantly more information.

If you have a smartphone, you can manage the e-prescription via an e-prescription app from your health insurance company. You can download these from the popular app stores (Google Play, Apple Store). You can find out from your insurer which e-prescription app is valid for you and how it works in detail.

If you do not have a smartphone or do not want to use the health insurance app, you can have your doctor print out the necessary QR code on paper.

How do I redeem an e-prescription?

You can redeem the e-prescription at any pharmacy of your choice - this can be a local pharmacy, but it can also be an online pharmacy. To receive your medication, send your individual QR code to the pharmacy using your smartphone or present a corresponding paper printout.

The pharmacy reads the QR code, compares your data with the digital medical prescription via the telematics infrastructure and receives all the important information about your prescription. You will then be given or sent your medication.

Check availability, reserve medication

If you have saved an e-prescription on your smartphone, you can check in advance whether the prescribed medication is available from your pharmacy to be picked up or dispatched. As soon as you bindingly assign the relevant QR code to a pharmacy via the app, the pharmacy will reserve the medication for you or send it to you.

Do i need a smartphone?

No. You can opt for a hard copy from your doctor at any time and redeem it personally at your pharmacy. This means that even after 2022 you will not have to rely on a mobile device (smartphone, tablet) to redeem an e-prescription.

What are the advantages of the e-prescriptions?

Switching to the e-prescription offers a number of advantages and enables additional digital applications in the future:

You will receive the e-prescription immediately after a video consultation and do not have to wait for it to be sent to you by post.
When ordering in the online pharmacy, you can send the prescription directly and no longer have to send it in by post.
Since you can check in advance whether a drug is in stock in your pharmacy, you save yourself unnecessary trips.
In the future, you no longer have to pick up follow-up prescriptions from the practice or have them sent to you.
In the future, e-prescriptions should be linked to a digital reminder function for taking your medication, which ensures that you do not forget them.
In the future, the e-prescription will be linked to an electronic medication plan with an integrated interaction check.This allows you to quickly and reliably check whether the various medicines you are taking are compatible with one another.

How long is the e-prescription valid?

The same deadlines apply to the e-prescription as to the (classic) paper-based prescription. This means that those with statutory health insurance have one month to redeem it. Specific provisions as to whether the e-prescription is valid for 28 or 30 days depends on the health insurance company and the federal state.

There is an exception for the electronic equivalent of the “green prescription”, where you pay for the prescribed medication at your own expense. This is valid indefinitely.

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