Citizen Views on an Opt-Out Approach to National Electronic Health Records in Germany: A Small-Scale Qualitative Study

ObjectivesElectronic health records (German: elektronische Patientenakte - ePA) are an important healthcare tool. However, in Germany, current participation remains low for their national ePA. To rectify this, the German government recently adopted an opt-out approach to their national ePA system. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kimon Papadopoulos (Author), Verena Struckmann (Author), Viktor von Wyl (Author), Felix Gille (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Frontiers Media S.A., 2024-07-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:ObjectivesElectronic health records (German: elektronische Patientenakte - ePA) are an important healthcare tool. However, in Germany, current participation remains low for their national ePA. To rectify this, the German government recently adopted an opt-out approach to their national ePA system. The objective of this study is to investigate and provide a brief overview of German public attitudes towards this approach to inform policymakers with evidence-based insights.MethodsFour public focus groups were conducted with 12 German citizens to discuss their opinions on the German governments new opt-out approach to the ePA.ResultsThree major thematic categories were identified (Contributors to Opt-Out Implementation, Barriers to Opt-Out Implementation, and Contingent Factors) to describe citizen views on the opt-out approach for the ePA.ConclusionThe public is generally supportive of an opt-out approach to ePAs in Germany, as they see the benefits ePAs can provide to German society; but they are skeptical on how successful this approach might be due to extant issues that policymakers must be aware of in order to successfully implement an opt-out approach for Germany's national ePA system.
Item Description:1661-8564
10.3389/ijph.2024.1607288