The telematics infrastructure: the backbone of the German e-Health card.

Abstract

Today all OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries are faced with the challenge of escalating healthcare costs. Most are agreed that e-health appears to offer a solution and thus we are witnessing the design, development and implementation of various e-health solutions. This is also true in Germany where the current focus is on the new e-health card concept. It is anticipated that the introduction of this e-health card will totally change the current healthcare system within Germany, primarily because it offers several new functions. Some of these functions are mandatory, while other functions are optional. Such an initiative however, brings with it several advantages and disadvantages. A particularly sensitive aspect here concerns data protection and data security. To address this consideration, the development of a new telematics infrastructure is critical and in some respects the backbone for the e-health card. Thus, the following provides an assessment of the telematics infrastructure behind the German e-health card.