Introduction of Germany's electronic health cards is delayed

Germany's nationwide introduction of the electronic health card, the Gesundheitskarte, has fallen far behind schedule, the health minister announced last week.

Hailed as the world's largest health service information technology project, the card should have been introduced at the start of 2006. But the German federal minister for health, Ulla Schmidt, announced at a press conference in Berlin last week that the new card will be tested in eight regions of Germany from the end of April. The trial should then be extended to cover 100 …