In future, insured persons in Germany could have their personal emergency data stored on their health card if they wish. The legislator has provided for this option. If an emergency actually occurs, an emergency doctor, for example, could immediately read out data relevant to emergency medicine, for example on previous illnesses and possible allergies of the injured person. The "Gesellschaft für Telematikanwendungen der Gesundheitskarte mbH" ("gematik") commissioned the IZT to carry out a risk analysis of the processes involved in handling emergency data. 30 acute and emergency physicians agreed to contribute their expertise and provide their risk assessments; the IZT chose the new Real-Time Delphi survey method as the instrument. What are the possible effects of gaps in the data pool? And what about errors in data collection? gematik" published the risk analysis.

The German Social Security Code V, and in particular Section 291a ff. thereof, regulates the introduction of the electronic health card (eGK) and the development of the telematics infrastructure - as well as the topic of emergency data management (NFDM) as one of the first specialised medical applications of the eGK. The development of NFDM is in the hands of "gematik" - Gesellschaft für Telematikanwendungen der Gesundheitskarte mbH (our client) - and the German Medical Association as the leading partner.

With the introduction of the NFDM, doctors (typically GPs, but possibly also specialists or hospital doctors) will be able to record emergency data at the request of their patients and store it on the chip of the electronic health cards - and doctors in emergency care or the emergency services will be able to view this information via their card reader. Until then, however, a whole series of technical prerequisites must be created in healthcare facilities (e.g. surgeries, hospitals). gematik" is currently preparing the testing of NFDM.

In future, patients will be able to have two separate data records stored on the eGK via the - voluntary - NFDM application:

  1. Emergency-relevant medical information (emergency data set, abbreviated: NFD)
  2. Information on the storage location of insured persons' declarations of intent (data set Personal Declarations, in short: DPE).

With the risk analysis, a theoretical analysis of the future NFDM specialist application and the processes associated with and influenced by it for the care of patients in emergency situations was carried out. On this basis, any existing medical risks associated with the use of the NFDM specialist application in emergency care were assessed and described with the help of medical expertise. Furthermore, it was determined whether and, if so, which medical risks should be examined more closely and with which measures within the framework of the testing and evaluation of the NFDM specialist application. As a result, it was possible to estimate the period of time and the quantity structures to be used for risk monitoring.