Communication in the Medical Sector: Digital and Secure

In the German healthcare system, doctors, dentists, physiotherapists and other players have so far exchanged data and findings via paper and fax machines. One reason for this is that until now, there has been no secure electronic transmission method linking all these professional groups. From now on, a new digital communication standard will fundamentally change this: KIM - Communication in Medicine.

KIM is a secure e-mail service within the so-called telematics infrastructure (TI). The telematics infrastructure (telematics: linking of telecommunications and information technology) networks various information systems in the healthcare sector and ensures the secure exchange of information. Connection to the telematics infrastructure has been mandatory since 2018 for all physicians who participate in the provision of care to statutorily insured patients. All other service providers have since been gradually connected to the telematics infrastructure.

KIM is also gradually becoming mandatory for all players in the healthcare sector. The information is sent securely via the TI, i.e. via the same route as the insurance master data is transmitted.

In the future, KIM will be the only secure transmission method that is remunerated and anchored in law. In the future, for example, doctors' letters and the certificate of incapacity for work will be sent using KIM. KIM is the new standard for everyone and replaces old communication services as well as the fax. Letters or CDs sent by post will soon be a thing of the past thanks to KIM. Unlike the old KOM-LE system, KIM is intended for all TI participants: for example, doctors, dentists, psychotherapists and pharmacists. But the legal regulations explicitly stipulate that the official interest groups of the healthcare industry are also integrated.

For all the stakeholders themselves, KIM is therefore a very central specialist application of the TI. Because even if KIM is perhaps not as well known as the e-prescription or the electronic patient file: at last there is the secure e-mail that has been missing in everyday practice and hospital life up to now. The rollout of the new TI specialist application KIM is scheduled for completion in December 2021.

The most important added value of the new digital exchange is the better networking of really all the players with each other. Medical operations also benefit from consultative advice from various specialists both inside and outside the facility. This is precisely where the TI unfolds its full effectiveness. Patients benefit from faster, better communication and diagnosis between the healthcare players involved, without media disruptions and delayed data transmission.

As the central operator of the telematics infrastructure in Germany, we have been involved in its development from the very beginning. Based on this extensive experience, we could already launch a particularly powerful, easy-to-install and easy-to-operate KIM service. Our KIM service significantly simplifies installation at medical care centers, hospitals, doctors' practices and pharmacies and is operated exclusively in our own data centers in Germany.