Overview

• Doctors, psychotherapists and pharmacies must begin populating patients’ ePA files on October 1, with enforcement and financial sanctions announced to start January 1, 2026.
• Roughly 70 million statutory insured already have auto-created records with low opt-out rates of about 4–6 percent, yet only about 1.37 million have activated personal access.
• Gematik projects over 90 percent of practices, dental practices and pharmacies will be technically equipped by the deadline, while the KBV warns about one fifth still lacking modules and hospitals largely rolling out through next year.
• Inserting the health insurance card grants providers a default 90‑day access window, allowing uploads even for non‑activated records, and patient apps enable granular sharing choices.
• Security gaps flagged by the Chaos Computer Club are described as fixed by the federal data protection authority, though it urges finer rights controls; the KBV notes insurers’ billing data appear in the ePA unless patients object, and only 5 of 36 private insurers currently offer the record.