Welcome at "GESUNDHEITSDATENSCHUTZ" - which is the German word for HEALTH DATA PROTECTION. This site shall soon become the most comprehensive German language web site on medical privacy. You can find here documents and links to other sites in German. If you prefer or are looking for material in English, please note that there are many links to British, US, and Australian sources on the pages. The marker "[Englisch]" (not highlighted) will help you recognize these links.
Gesundheit is German for "health", Daten is data, and Schutz is protection. In German the middle word Daten can be read as belonging to either Gesundheit, meaning (personal or general) "health data", and together with Schutz it can be read as Datenschutz, that is "data protection". Schutz has the same linguistic roots as "to shut" in English. So GESUNDHEITSDATENSCHUTZ is about being able to protect the privacy of or shut away personal health information.
I decided to use Gesundheitsdatenschutz as the title because the word "privacy" does not exist in German and therefore does not lend itself for a good combination like "medical privacy" [click here for a DEFINITION of privacy in English, and a LIST of typical privacy issues]. In German there are the words "confidentiality" (Vertraulichkeit), "private sphere" (Privatsphäre), and Schweigepflicht (the "duty to remain silent" for doctors - about confidential material they came to know, of course) but the term "medical privacy" with its emphasis on the individual's perspective has to be circumscribed in German. I am trying, however, to introduce the neologism Privatheit, literally "privateness", for privacy. Time will show whether this word will be picked up by others. Even Gesundheitsdatenschutz is still unusual in German although the word turns up here and there in discussions, and a future law may have the word in it. However, when I discussed an issue about uploading files to this site with CompuServe, I had to repeat the site's name "Gesundheitsdatenschutz" several times because the German support person kept forgetting it!
As of summer 1997 we do not yet have in the German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) the very grave problems with privacy in the health care field as they have been documented for the United States at EPIC's inspiring web site (Electronic Privacy Information Center, Washington, D.C.), or as presented in Ross Anderson's account of developments in Great Britain (see the "Update"). Nevertheless the German and Swiss Data Protection Registrars (one each for the federal states and one for Germany as a whole) have criticised findings from the German semi-public and private health insurers, hospitals, government agencies, professional bodies, and lately also from practices of individual doctors who are using an increasing number of computers for their data management.
The German DPRs have also issued several cautionary statements about smart cards in the health care field which are being tested in Germany with approval of the physicians' chamber. In Austria smart cards with administrative patient data only are currently under discussion. The Austrian Physicians' Chamber, the umbrella organisation of the insurers, and the employers' organisation (employers want to rid themselves of administrative tasks) have not yet come to a final decision yet. More information in medical smart cards is available in the "Spezielle Themen" section under sub-topics "Chipkarten (Smart Cards)" and "Global Healthcare Applications Project".
Please let me know your related ideas, comments, and suggestions. My email address and the feedback link leading to it are at the bottom of the home page.
Thank you for visiting!
Dr. Andreas von Heydwolff