How it works

This is how the e-prescription works:

  1. 1

    Issuance of the e-prescription

    You attend the dentist’s or doctor’s surgery or a video consultation. After the examination, the healthcare professional will issue you with an electronic prescription for the prescribed medication.

  2. 2

    Receive e-prescription

    A prescription code is automatically created for each e-prescription, which you need in order to redeem it at the pharmacy. You can either open this code directly in the e-prescription app or receive it as a printout from your surgery.

  3. 3

    Either redeem the e-prescription directly on site...

    Show the prescription code either in the e-prescription app or on the printout at the pharmacy and receive your medication.

  4. 4

    ... or redeem the e-prescription digitally

    Select your pharmacy and how you want to receive your medications: reservation, delivery service or by mail order.

     

Less paper. Fewer trips: fictional example

With a few clicks, a doctor's office can issue prescriptions and send them digitally to the insured. The example of Gerda Schulz, who cannot pick up her medication herself at the pharmacy for health reasons, shows how this saves time and travel.

Gerda Schulz depends on help.

Gerda Schulz is 79 years old and has limited mobility. She lives alone and can still take care of herself well. But her son Michael supports her with errands, visits to doctors and authorities. He lives nearby and regularly looks after her.

 

Gerda Schulz needs new medicines

Gerda Schulz has to take medication regularly. Only today she realizes that her antihypertensive drugs have run out. She urgently needs new ones. The last time she visited her family doctor, Dr. Schneider, she already received the e-prescription for it. Since she does not have a smartphone and the practice could not deliver it to her digitally, she received the e-prescription with the prescription code as a paper printout.

 

Her son can access the e-prescription

The 79-year-old is not feeling very well today. She therefore calls her son Michael and asks him to redeem the prescription for her. Michael Schulz has the e-prescription app and the family function on his smartphone. He has already registered his mother with her electronic health card and PIN in his app. So he can retrieve her prescription directly from the e-prescription store.

 

Michael Schulz orders medication via app

Michael is on his way to work in the tram when his mother calls. Via the e-prescription app, he can request whether his mother's regular pharmacy has the medication in stock. So he saves his way there. The pharmacy confirms via app that he can pick up the medication in the evening.

 

Gerda Schulz gets medication on time

After work, Michael Schulz passes by the pharmacy. He will pick up the medicine and find out from the specialist about the instructions for taking it. After that, he stops by his mother to bring her the medicines and cook food. Gerda Schulz is relieved that she got her medication on time.

 

And what about security?

  • Forgery-proof, thanks to qualified electronic signature
  • Secure storage in the telematics infrastructure, the network for health data in Germany
  • Only you, the issuing surgery and an authorised pharmacy may view your prescription

Further information

Please also visit our website with detailed information, practical examples and checklists on the e-prescription for doctors and pharmacists.

How the e-prescription improves the practice process and creates new perspectives for patient care:

The e-prescription for doctors

How the e-prescription makes dispensing medicines safer and easier and leaves more time for consultation:

The e-prescription for pharmacists