The emergency data set for the German Electronic Health Card--which benefits can be expected?

In order to improve access to pre-existing patient information in case of emergency, the German Electronic Health Card (EHC) is supposed to hold emergency data. As a basis, the German Medical Association developed an emergency data set, which provides the possibility to store information on prior diagnoses, medications, allergies and other emergency-relevant information.

One main objective of the study is to evaluate the usefulness of the emergency data in specific emergency situations.

Within a two-phase exploratory study, a total of 64 paper-based emergency data sets were completed by primary care physicians, and then were evaluated by clinicians, emergency physicians, and paramedics.

Clinicians, emergency physicians as well as paramedics rated the emergency data set in more than 70% of the reviewed cases as very useful or useful. The greatest benefit was attributed to the information on diagnoses and medication.

The implementation of an emergency data on the EHC has the potential to improve safety, quality and efficiency of emergency care.