Digital health The electronic medical data card (eGK)

The medical data card provides “proof of cover” in credit card format. Patients use it as evidence of their membership of a health insurance fund. The card allows many medical services, such as visits to a doctor, to be paid for directly by the health insurance provider. 

In addition to a photo, the following information is provided on the front of the medical data card:

• the identifier “medical data card”
• name of the insured person
• name of the health insurance provider
• identification number of the health insurance provider
• identification number of the insured person
• health insurance provider’s logo
• a Near Field Communication symbol
• the 6-digit card access number

Personal profile data that is required for administrative purposes is stored the medical data card chip. This includes:

• name
• address
• date of birth
• gender
• ID number of the insured person
• insured status (e.g., “insured family member”)
• start and duration of health insurance cover

Typically, the card is read prior to treatment during the person’s first appointment of the calendar quarter at a doctor’s practice or other medical facility. When this is done, the profile data is synchronized with the insurance provider’s data either online or via a secure connection.
The benefits of this data synchronization are as follows: health insurance providers don’t need to issue new cards if a person changes address, invalid cards are quickly identified, and lost or stolen cards are speedily reported.

Patients and medical practices also benefit from data that is always up-to-date – for example, it means that documents such as prescriptions and referrals can be completed correctly.

An electronic medical data card is valid for a maximum of five years. After this period, the health insurance provider issues a new card.

People aged 15 and above with health insurance receive a card with a photo. This does not include those who would experience some difficulty having their photo taken – for example, because they are confined to bed.

Together with details of the person’s gender, the photo is intended to prevent misuse of the card or a mix-up with another card.

The back of the electronic medical data card (eGK) has an additional purpose – it serves as a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This allows card holders to receive medical treatment without having to deal with red tape in all countries within the European Union. The EHIC is also valid in other European countries, such as Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, and for temporary stays in Great Britain.

The electronic medical data card (eGK) not only serves as proof of insurance and a way to store personal profile data but can also be used to redeem e‑prescriptions by being scanned in a pharmacy. The e-prescription issued by the medical practice is then accessed from a central database and the medication is dispensed.

You can also use the electronic medical data card to log in to the e-prescription app and the app for the electronic patient record (ePA app). To log in, you require an NFC-enabled medical data card and the corresponding personal identification number (PIN). Both are available from your health insurance provider.

Helpful data can also be stored on the electronic medical data card on request:

• an emergency data record, containing details of underlying conditions or allergies to medication, for example
• a medication treatment plan
• details of where the person keeps important documents relating to an advance healthcare directive (living will) or lasting power of attorney for health and welfare and an organ donor card

These additional details can be provided on a voluntary basis. In other words, they are only stored on the card if the insured person has given consent. If you want to store this information on your medical data card, contact your family doctor or dentist.

You can use your PIN to release data on your eGK so that it can be accessed by medical personnel. Doctors or other healthcare professionals can only access the emergency data without entry of the insured person’s PIN in the event of a medical emergency.

In the future, it will be possible to save the emergency data record and notes about other important documents in a “Patient Summary” record. This will allow patients to access and manage this data themselves via the ePA app. For now, however, emergency data can continue to be stored on the eGK.

It is expected that it will be possible to save the electronic medication treatment plan (eMP) in the electronic patient record for all from the middle of 2025. As of that point, it will no longer be stored on the eGK.

Emergency data management and the electronic medication plan are voluntary medical uses for the medical data card. This means that they are only used with the insured person’s consent.

Storage of the personal profile data on the medical data card (eGK) is mandatory. This data can be seen by staff employed by medical facilities and health insurance providers. Entering a PIN is not necessary in this case.

All other information voluntarily stored on the card can only be seen using a “two-key” principle, whereby the insured person can grant access on request by entering their PIN, but doctors or emergency personnel require an electronic healthcare professional ID or institution card as a second “key” to unlock the data. Details of each access are also stored on the medical data card. The emergency data record can only be read without the card holder’s prior permission in the event of a medical emergency.

A special data transfer system known as the telematics infrastructure was set up to protect sensitive medical data. In this system, medical data can only be accessed by authorized service providers such as doctor’s practices, therapists or pharmacies for the purpose of providing medical care – it cannot be accessed by insurance providers, authorities or companies. E-prescriptions are also stored in the telematics infrastructure. The medical data is encrypted at all times and a signature prevents it from being modified.