As part of our GP 360° seminar series, we welcomed the head of the TK regional office, Mr. Christian Bredl, to the Institute of General Practice for a pre-Christmas fireside chat on 20 December.

A presentation of the Techniker Krankenkasse, its current offers and challenges was followed by a lively discussion on the topic of "Digitalization in the healthcare sector". The opportunities, such as increased self-determination and safety for patients and improved communication at interfaces, as well as potential risks and challenges with regard to citizens' digital health literacy and data protection were discussed together.

According to Mr Bredl, the recently passed digital laws for better care and research have provided a decisive impetus to further advance the digitalization of the healthcare system in Germany. He described the electronic patient file (ePA) as a "centerpiece". The joint discussion revealed that, in addition to the opt-out system, other factors could be essential for broad acceptance and use of the ePA. In particular, low thresholds, the avoidance of parallel systems and the prompt availability of health data in the file were discussed as possible further success factors.

We would like to thank Mr. Bredl for his visit, not least for his great interest and openness to the ideas and positions of the prospective GPs from our management program.