Western Switzerland with electronic patient dossier

The Cara association will launch the electronic patient dossier as early as 31 May 2021 (see www.cara.ch/anmeldung). In a first step, patients will be able to open their EPD and grant access rights to health professionals so that they can store documents in the EPD and view data relevant to their treatment. Later, patients will be able to view their data and manage their EPD themselves. This will be possible via an electronic identification tool (EIM) certified by the Confederation and offered by the member cantons.

The launch of the EPD will be followed by an introductory phase lasting several months, during which Cara and the member cantons will finalise all the functions and clarify the aspects relating to electronic identification, according to the association.

The member cantons would conduct specific communication campaigns to publicise the electronic patient dossier according to their priorities. In particular, the canton of Geneva, as a Swiss pioneer in the field of electronic patient dossiers, which already offers a cantonal electronic dossier with its platform MonDossierMedical.ch, will encourage its users to open a dossier with Cara before MonDossierMedical.ch is finally shut down at the end of September 2021.

Improved quality of care

The electronic patient dossier is intended to improve healthcare services and increase the efficiency of therapeutic processes through greater coordination, as Cara writes. This will increase patient safety. The EPD contains information relevant to treatment, which is stored in it by healthcare professionals. Of course, the patient can also see this data, as can the healthcare professionals who have access to it. The EPD provides a complete overview of the examinations and treatments carried out. This saves time for the service providers and increases the quality of their work. In addition, the emergency departments could access the EPD if necessary in order to quickly take note of the patient's medical history, possible allergies and contraindications and act accordingly.

According to Cara, over 200 healthcare providers have now joined the association, including all hospitals and clinics based in the member cantons. All healthcare professionals who wish to contribute to the coordination of healthcare through a better exchange of information can join Cara, it adds.

Data protection as a priority

At the legal level, very high requirements are placed on data security and data protection. Patients are the sole owners of their EPD, it is emphasised. They themselves would decide which service providers they wanted to grant access to their EPD. In addition, they would be able to view all documents stored in their EPD themselves. According to the information provided, patients also have the option of restricting access to certain documents and entrusting the management of their dossier to a trusted person. Thanks to the EPD, the patient has control over their health information. In this way, they will be more involved in their treatment and their health competencies will be increased, the report concludes.

Source: Cara

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