Digitization E-patient dossier to receive additional federal funding from October
More patients in Switzerland are to open an electronic patient dossier. To this end, providers will receive compensation of CHF 30 per dossier opened from October 1.
28.08.2024, 11:39
SDA
Parliament approved CHF 30 million for the rapid roll-out of the electronic patient record (EPR) in the spring. The measure is intended to serve as a transitional solution. The Federal Council intends to decide in the fall on how to proceed with a major reform of the EPR legislation, as it announced on Wednesday.
In the short and medium term, the current eight EPR providers - the so-called core communities, including Swiss Post's Sanela - will receive compensation of CHF 30 per dossier opened. The cantons must contribute at least the same amount to the funding.
The transitional funding is intended to drive forward the currently insufficient dissemination and use of the EPR in the critical phase until the planned comprehensive revision comes into force. This is not expected to be the case until 2028 at the earliest.
With the EPR, all important health information can be clearly stored in one place and accessed easily and securely at any time. However, implementation is still lagging behind. So far, only around 70,000 electronic dossiers have been opened.
The canton of Uri recently announced that it would not be introducing the EPD at the beginning of 2025 as planned. The cantonal government justified this with "considerable uncertainties" at federal level. In addition, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) recommended examining a centralized solution for the electronic patient file.
