The German healthcare landscape uses advanced technology mainly in the form of machines that perform diagnostics and procedures. Patient data and identification are tracked and administered manually, usually in disparate systems. More and more patients are pushing for better communication between systems and visibility to personal medical data.

Insurers, providers and the state have recently come together to identify new ways to tackle the inefficiencies of the current system and improve the way patient information is accessed and shared. As of June 2016, new laws gave patients the right to have digital access to their medication plans.

Introducing CLICKDOC:
Digital Consolidation of Medication Plans

In an effort to uphold this new law, CompuGroup Medical, one of Germany’s leading eHealth companies, created an application called CLICKDOC that allows a patient’s medication plan to be accessed electronically by scanning a 4×4 cm barcode. The free app uses CortexDecoder software to decode the barcode, which contains detailed records of the medications prescribed by various physicians and load the information into the CLICKDOC system to create a digital record of patient information that can easily be presented throughout the German healthcare system. This is a significant departure from the traditional practice of paper prescriptions, in notoriously impossible to read physician handwriting, with no integration/updating between physician offices or hospital facilities.

CortexDecoder Selected for Seamless Patient Experience

For some patients, the level of detail contained in their record will be enormous. Consider, for example, an oncology patient undergoing multiple rounds of treatment. Their barcode will contain all of the medication data associated with their treatment. Because of this, the barcodes can get extremely dense, and present a challenge to most barcode reading software. The documents that contain these barcodes may also be poorly printed or damaged, and need a scanning solution that is robust and flexible.

CompuGroup Medical selected CortexDecoder based on the level of sophistication the barcode reading software offers, its ability to read worn/damaged paper barcodes, and, most importantly, its ability to get good scans from patients’ smartphones… even with cracked or damaged screens. With CortexDecoder, CompuGroup was able to easily integrate a solution that delivered consistent performance to its users so patients could spend less time struggling with technology and more time expediting treatment.

CompuGroup: Working Towards the New Digital State

Of the roughly 2200 hospitals in Germany today, only a fraction are using technological solutions for patient identification. But per the latest studies, 45% of the German population uses their mobile devices for eHealth services. With services like CLICKDOC, the new law addressing patient behaviors and expectations, increased advocacy from insurers to reduce waste and redundancy, and financial incentives for physicians to adopt them, the German healthcare system is likely to see an expanded use of barcodes and digital records.

Thinking about using barcode reading software in your application? Contact us today for more information.