Germany has unveiled an ambitious update of its national digital health strategy, placing artificial intelligence, interoperability and the European Health Data Space (EHDS) at the centre of healthcare transformation. The revised roadmap, presented by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), builds on the country's 2023 strategy and outlines how Germany aims to create a patient-centred digital health ecosystem by 2030.
Published under the title Gemeinsam Digital 2026, the strategy reflects a shift from individual digital projects towards a connected healthcare system in which data, digital services and AI become embedded in everyday care delivery. The full strategy document can be accessed here.
Electronic patient record becomes central hub
At the heart of the strategy remains the electronic patient record (ePA). However, the German government no longer sees the ePA merely as a repository for medical information. Instead, it is intended to become a digital companion that actively supports patients and healthcare professionals throughout the care journey.
Planned additions include digital triage services, electronic referrals and integrated appointment scheduling. These functions are expected to enable patients to navigate care pathways from a single digital environment while providing healthcare professionals with more complete and timely information.
Germany aims to have more than 20 million citizens actively using the ePA by 2030. The government also wants users to benefit from at least seven structured, data-driven healthcare services built on standardised health information.
Another major milestone is scheduled for the end of 2027, when physician letters are expected to be exchanged entirely electronically across the healthcare system. According to the strategy, this should reduce administrative burden, eliminate paper-based processes and improve information sharing between care providers.
Data becomes a strategic asset
The updated strategy places a strong emphasis on making healthcare data more accessible, interoperable and usable for both care delivery and research.
Germany intends to actively align its national infrastructure with the European Health Data Space. Rather than treating EHDS as a separate European initiative, the government positions it as the framework that will guide future developments around interoperability, data exchange and digital health services.
To support this ambition, the Ministry of Health will introduce a national interoperability roadmap with stronger requirements for internationally recognised standards and terminologies. Additional clinical data types will gradually be integrated into the electronic patient record, with structured data becoming increasingly important.
Where information remains unstructured, AI technologies are expected to support extraction, classification and analysis. The strategy also foresees secure environments where linked datasets from electronic patient records, registries, routine care, research studies and regional data spaces can be used for innovation and scientific research.
Research infrastructure prepared for the AI era
Germany's Health Research Data Centre (FDZ) will continue to serve as the central access point for secondary use of healthcare data.
The government expects the FDZ to support at least 300 research projects by the end of 2026. Looking further ahead, the platform will be expanded to become "AI-ready", allowing data to be used for training, testing and validating artificial intelligence applications.
The strategy also introduces the concept of a national research pseudonym that would enable privacy-preserving linkage of health, care, social and reimbursement data while maintaining compliance with European data protection requirements.
Policymakers see these developments as essential for accelerating data-driven innovation while also strengthening evidence-based decision-making within the healthcare system.
AI moves from pilot projects to routine practice
Artificial intelligence is one of the most prominent additions to the revised strategy.
Germany aims for AI-supported documentation tools to be actively used in more than 70 percent of healthcare and care organisations by 2028. The goal is to reduce administrative workload, improve documentation quality and increase the availability of structured healthcare data.
To accelerate adoption, the government plans to establish AI regulatory sandboxes where healthcare organisations and technology developers can safely test new AI applications while receiving guidance on compliance and implementation requirements.
Blueprints for regulatory documentation are expected to be available by the end of 2028. Healthcare professionals will also receive ongoing guidance about which AI applications can be used and under what conditions, providing greater legal certainty as adoption increases.
Strengthening digital infrastructure
The strategy also addresses one of the long-standing challenges of German healthcare: the complexity of its digital infrastructure.
The government plans to simplify the national telematics infrastructure, improve system stability and introduce more user-friendly digital services. These include mobile access for healthcare professionals and digital check-in capabilities for patients.
At the same time, the role of gematik, Germany's national digital health agency, will be strengthened. The organisation is expected to receive greater authority to enforce standards and accelerate implementation across the healthcare sector.
Supporting legislation is already in preparation and is expected to provide the legal foundation for many of the planned reforms.
A blueprint for Europe's largest healthcare market
Taken together, the updated strategy signals that Germany is moving beyond digitisation as a standalone objective. The focus is increasingly on creating a connected healthcare ecosystem built around interoperable data, AI-enabled workflows and European collaboration.
As Europe's largest healthcare market, Germany's choices are likely to influence developments far beyond its own borders. The country's commitment to EHDS implementation, large-scale AI adoption and a more data-driven healthcare system may provide important lessons for policymakers, healthcare organisations and technology providers across Europe.
While many of the objectives will take years to realise, the direction is clear: Germany intends to make digital health, trusted data exchange and AI-supported care a routine part of healthcare delivery by the end of the decade.
