Medical Records for Expats in Germany

How expat families in Germany manage medical records across Hausarzt practices, insurers, and hospitals. Organise health history in a fragmented, paper-heavy system.

Germany hosts one of Europe's largest expat populations — millions of international families navigate a healthcare system split between public and private insurance. Medical records are often paper-based, in German only, and scattered across individual doctor practices with no central patient record.

Why medical records are difficult to manage in Germany

Germany has no centralised electronic health record system that patients can access. Each doctor — your Hausarzt, specialists, hospitals — maintains their own records independently. The elektronische Patientenakte (ePA) has been in development for years but adoption remains limited. If you see three different doctors, your medical history exists in three separate locations with no connection between them.

What expat families in Germany typically face

• Medical records are primarily in German — difficult for non-German-speaking families to understand or transfer
• No centralised patient portal — each practice maintains separate records
• Switching between public and private insurance means records do not follow
• Specialist referrals generate new records at each specialist's practice
• Hospital discharge letters are sent to your Hausarzt but you may not receive a copy
• Requesting copies of your records requires formal written requests to each individual practice

The challenge of leaving Germany

When expat families leave Germany, gathering medical records is a labour-intensive process. You need to contact each doctor individually, request copies in writing, and wait for processing. Records are almost always in German, which may be unusable for doctors in your next country. Families who spent years in Germany often leave with a stack of German-language documents that no international doctor can quickly interpret.

How PRIVAWELL helps expat families in Germany

PRIVAWELL gives Germany-based expat families a private vault that consolidates records from every Arzt, Krankenhaus, and specialist into one structured place. Upload lab results, vaccination passes (Impfpass), hospital letters, and prescription histories. When you leave Germany, your vault travels with you. Generate a doctor-ready summary in English, French, Spanish, or any supported language.

See also: medical records when moving abroad | expats in the UK | expats in Switzerland

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