A well-intentioned technology ban has created an unexpected scene in Austrian healthcare: taxi drivers ferrying USB sticks between hospitals while patients wait for their test results.
Since January 1st, Austrian healthcare providers have been prohibited from using fax machines for data protection reasons. The result? Medical documents are now making their way across cities via courier services, taxis, and sometimes even ambulances – creating delays that are affecting patient care and forcing postponements of medical procedures.
“Fax was the preferred form of communication for all large parts of the healthcare system,” explains Andreas Krauter from the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK). That’s putting it mildly – the technology had been keeping the wheels of healthcare turning between hospitals, private practices, and insurance companies across the country.
The official replacement? A web browser-based system running on German cloud servers that doctors are finding about as user-friendly as a paper cut. “It is extremely complicated to use, impossible for hospitals and hospital doctors,” says psychiatrist Dietmar Bayer, Vice President of the Styrian Medical Association, with the kind of frustration usually reserved for insurance claim forms.
Some healthcare providers have resorted to using fax machines anyway, in quiet defiance of the ban, when the new system proves too cumbersome. It’s either that or watch patients wait while their medical records enjoy a scenic tour of the city by taxi.
The Austrian Medical Association has proposed a solution that sounds suspiciously like secure email – they’re calling it “directed transmission of findings.” It would work like email but with added data protection and a special directory of registered medical providers. The ÖGK’s response? “We are all in favor of an even better solution for Austria,” says Krauter, with the careful optimism of someone who’s seen too many IT projects go sideways.
What makes this situation particularly face-palm worthy is that nobody can claim surprise. The fax ban was originally scheduled for earlier but got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors had been warning about potential difficulties, but their concerns apparently got lost in the bureaucratic equivalent of a paper jam.
Meanwhile, Austria’s electronic health records system (ELGA) isn’t exactly riding to the rescue. Eight years after its rollout, it’s still mostly limited to hospitals, with private practices left out in the cold. The Austrian Court of Audit recently delivered a diagnosis that would make any project manager wince: scattered data storage, lack of structured formats, and dentists excluded entirely.
As USB sticks continue their taxi adventures across Austrian cities, one thing becomes clear: sometimes the path to modernization needs a bit more planning than just pulling the plug on existing systems. At least the taxi drivers are getting some extra business.
