The EPR in short

The electronic patient record (EPR) is a personal collection of health-related documents. Via a secure internet connection, this information is accessible at any time both for you and for your healthcare professionals. But you decide yourself who can see what documents, and when they can do so.

What is the EPR?

The electronic patient record (EPR) is a personal collection of health-related documents. These could include, for example, your hospital discharge report, Spitex (home care) report, medication list, X-ray findings, or vaccination card.

Via a secure internet connection, this information is accessible at any time both for you and for your healthcare professionals – on a PC or smartphone, at home or wherever you happen to be. But you decide yourself who can see which documents, and when. The medical information in the EPR belongs to you, so you decide how it is to be used.

In an emergency, thanks to the EPR, important information is available rapidly, even if you are not able to provide it yourself.

For whom is the EPR?

Anyone in Switzerland can open an EPR. The EPR is voluntary and free and can be closed again at any time. Although it is called “patient record”, you don’t need to be sick to open one. A healthy person can also open an EPR. The EPR is voluntary and free for people in Switzerland.

Obligation for facilities offering in-patient treatment and doctor’s surgeries registered from 2022

Acute care hospitals, rehabilitation centres, psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes and birthing centres plus doctor’s surgeries newly registered from 2022 are obliged to join the EPR.

External link: Find out whether your hospital or clinic is already connected to the EPR (in German).

Voluntary for other specialists in the healthcare sector and the general public

EPR affiliation for specialists in the healthcare sector as well as for doctors registered before 2022, pharmacists, Spitex providers and physiotherapists is at their own discretion.

The EPR does not contain all the electronically recorded health information concerning a patient, but only that which is relevant for other health professionals and for subsequent treatment.

Not a complete medical record

Alongside the EPR, health professionals continue to maintain their patients’ complete medical records. These records contain far more information than the EPR – for example, personal notes made by the professional treating the patient.

Not a place for storing official files

Authorities or health insurers cannot store documents in – or access – the EPR.

Persons and organisations not involved in patient care cannot access the EPR. Accordingly, the EPR cannot be accessed by employers, authorities, health insurers, supplementary insurance providers or life insurers. Nor can EPR documents be examined by a health insurer’s independent medical adviser.

The EPR contains information important for your treatment. Both healthcare professionals and you yourself can store documents in the EPR.

Examples of documents you can store yourself:

  • Previous X-ray findings or laboratory test results
  • Your personal pain dairy
  • Blood pressure readings from a smartphone app
  • Glasses prescription
  • Advance directive
  • Organ donor card

Content is only available in German, French, and Italian:

External link: How can I store my own documents in the EPR?

External link: Information on the organ donor card

External link: Information on the living will

The EPR will be gradually refined and improved. Initially documents will mainly be shared as PDFs. But it won’t be long before interactive formats can also be integrated on the EPR platform. This will enable doctors and pharmacists, for example, to adjust their patients’ current medication list directly in the EPR.

The more people open an EPR and the more healthcare providers are prepared to store key documents in the record, the greater the benefit of the EPR will be. The goal should be that all the health professionals involved in a patient’s care have access to the same information at all times. This will make the flow of information relating to a treatment better and more efficient.

Content is only available in German, French, and Italian:

External link: The EPR in action

Elektronisches Patientendossier EPD für Tablet

Open an EPR

Choose your EPR provider

To open your EPR, you must select an EPR provider and go through their registration process.