Since the legal duty that went into force on October 1 , 2025 requires doctors to fill the electronic patient record (ePA) with diagnoses, discharge summaries and laboratory results, there appears to be no effective enforcement in practice, the “Spiegel” reports. Although clinicians face fee discounts from the beginning of 2026 if they fail to use the ePA, the bodies tasked with auditing seem unable to verify whether records are actually populated.
The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV) typically only checks that the ePA module is technically installed in a practice management system and kept “ready for use”. Whether the application is actually employed day‑to‑day is reported to be “not examined and not sanctioned” according to insiders.
In a statement, Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) emphasised that monitoring compliance falls under the KVs’ responsibilities. The ministry also said that no changes to the consequences for non‑compliance are currently planned.
The Digital Law prescribes a one‑percent reduction of fees and a halving of the telematics infrastructure allowance for doctors who do not use the ePA. Because usage is hard to verify, these sanctions seem to apply only when the software is completely missing from a practice, according to the “Spiegel”.
Patients who discover that their records are not being filled are directed by the BMG to the KVs or their health insurers. Those insurers can only advise; they have no legal power to compel doctors.