Bavaria’s Social Affairs Minister, Christa Stewens, has urged caution on introducing the eGK EHR system too quickly. The Federal Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr Klaus Theo Schroeder, has stated that he wants the eGK to be introduced by the end of Spring 2008. But Ms. Stewens says that pilot tests currently underway show that the eGK system is just not ready yet.
Ms. Stewens’ position has been supported by clinicians involved in the current trials. Dr Siegried Jedamzik, chairman of the GO IN medical association in Ingolstadt and CEO of Baymatik, organiser of the field trials in Bavaria, agrees that eGK is not ready yet for nationwide roll-out.
Issues around the eGK system include chip problems with the patient smart cards, incomplete and late delivery of software from the vendors, and problems with data security within the system. The Federal Health Ministry in Berlin however believes these problems will soon be resolved.
Euro-HIT: European Health IT 
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