Vaccination consent with e-signature – simple, safe and efficient

The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of Thuringia uses StepOver’s signature pads in 4 large-scale coronavirus vaccination centres and all 29 regional vaccination sites to electronically sign information sheets, medical history forms and vaccination consent forms.

Thuringia actively chose electronic signatures for several reasons:

• Thuringia vaccinates up to 27,000 residents per day. Each vaccinated person must sign 5 pages before each vaccination. With 2.1 million inhabitants, this would result in a paper volume of over 20 million pages of paper.
• Health data requires special protection under German law and must be archived securely for 10 years. With over 2 million possible recipients, this requires a huge paper archive that must be maintained.
• The entire process, from filling in the patient data to verifying the vaccine and creating the digital vaccination certificate, is now done digitally, without time-consuming media breaks. Previously, electronic processing was only possible after the documents had been scanned, a process that is prone to many errors. The electronic digital signature solves this problem efficiently.
• It is possible to receive the first vaccination at the central vaccination centre and the second at a local regional vaccination centre without having to collect health data more than once.
• Significant improvements for mobile teams that go to recipients and can obtain consent so electronically in the future. The areas of application for the mobile units are retirement and nursing homes, small and medium-sized companies without a company doctor, and schools when a vaccine is approved for adolescents and children.

The StepOver signature pad is seamlessly integrated into a web application that is specifically tailored to the healthcare industry. This means that only minimal technical effort is required on site to enable the secure transfer of signature data.
The medical history form is filled out online by the recipient and the data is stored in a QR code, which is read during registration at the vaccination centre and transferred to the vaccination software.  The verification of the health data and the consultation take place on site, where the consent is first signed electronically by the recipient and then by the doctor.

Built to withstand wear and tear – the signature pad duraSign Pad Brilliance is designed to handle large signature volumes, equipped with chemically hardened glass and active pen. The housing and pen can be easily and frequently disinfected to prevent the transmission of bacteria and viruses. The recipient and doctor use two different pens on the same signature pad to prevent cross-contamination.

The signature pad supports an ergonomic writing position, with the option for left-handed users to rotate the screen 180°. In addition, the validity of the signature and the authenticity of the signed document can be checked at any time using the PDF/A standard and 4096-bit RSA encryption.

If you want to use electronic signatures for your health-related processes, either with signature pads or via Android or iOS tablets, contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation.