E-Card Approaches Anniversary

Visiting a doctor at the expense of the health insurance without having to laboriously obtain a health certificate has been a reality in Austria for 20 years: On May 30, 2005, the nationwide dispatch of the E-Card began, which was then established as the key to healthcare. This was preceded by years of development, accompanied by protests, especially from representatives of doctors. Today, the E-Card is indispensable in the public healthcare system.

Trial Operation in Burgenland

The name "E-Card" for the then novel "electronic chip card" was coined at the end of 2001. Initial attempts by the main association of social insurance carriers started shortly thereafter in Burgenland, where a large-scale trial operation was also conducted. With the nationwide roll-out, the card readers were also established in the practices of health insurance doctors. By December 2005, the dispatch to all insured persons in the country was completed.

Soon, there was consideration of expanding the functions, with some proving successful, while others were discarded. The card became the key for chief physician approvals and for sick notes, but could also be upgraded to a "citizen card." The function, later made obsolete by the mobile phone signature or ID-Austria, led to the possibility of voting with the E-Card in the E-Voting of the ÖH election in 2009.

From 2007, the first hospitals were connected to the system, and the card became - at least in pharmacies - also the key for the "medication safety belt," the precursor to the E-Medication, which went into full operation in 2019. In addition, electronic doctor prescriptions and referrals were established.

Photo for E-Card

The card was well received by the population, as the social insurance tried to prove based on survey data. Representatives of the medical association, however, practiced - as later with the health record ELGA - in passive resistance, warned of bureaucratic hurdles, criticized technical glitches, and saw doctors cheated out of allegedly billed but unpaid services. Soon after the start, warnings of misuse were raised, which after long debates finally led to the card being equipped with a photo of the insured person in the fall of 2019.

Since last year, one's own smartphone can also be used as an E-Card reader via the "Meine SV-App." Every insured person thus has the opportunity to allow their doctor access to the Electronic Health Record (ELGA) with the E-Authorization. Home visits, visits in nursing and retirement homes, telemedical treatment, or prescription issuance were thereby facilitated. The long-criticized ELGA due to data protection concerns is also the one that is now set to receive a major expansion boost next. It will start in the middle of the year when private laboratories and radiologists must mandatorily upload findings and subsequently images.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.