Dear patients,
a treatment does not begin in the operating room, and it does not end with the last stitch. Before it come questions, considerations, sometimes uncertainty. After it come healing, aftercare and often further questions that only occur to you once you are at home. It is precisely for this time between appointments that my website now offers a personal patient area.
Why I offer the patient area
For me, cosmetic surgery is not a single event but a path that we walk together. Along this path, you should feel well informed and well supported. Until now, many things were handled by telephone, post or email. That is not always convenient, and an ordinary email is not a suitable channel for health data or photos.
With the patient area, I am pursuing three goals:
- More transparency. You should be able to see at any time what is stored about you, who has accessed it and which appointments are coming up. You receive my answers in writing and can reread them at your leisure – even weeks later.
- More convenience. You ask your questions whenever they occur to you – including in the evening or at the weekend, without being put on hold. You share photos and details from home, protected rather than by email.
- More simplicity. Everything is in one place: appointments, messages, images and your details. If you enter pre-existing conditions, medications and allergies in advance, there is more time in the consultation for what matters to you.
What it offers you
Imagine three typical moments:
- Before the consultation, you will find the documents for your appointment – information sheets to read and questionnaires that you complete at your own pace. You write down your concern, note your questions and, if you wish, share photos or medical reports. This allows me to prepare specifically for our conversation – and you do not forget anything that is important to you.
- After the consultation, something else occurs to you at home. Instead of calling, you send me a message – or simply record it as a voice message. You will find the answer in your area, usually within a few working days.
- During aftercare, you have a question about how your healing is progressing. You describe it and send a photo or a short video. We then decide together whether an additional appointment makes sense. If you wish, the patient area will remind you of your appointment one day beforehand.
In short: fewer trips, less waiting, a better overview – and the reassuring feeling of having a direct line even between appointments.
The features at a glance
- Messages like in a messenger – in writing and not in real time, no live chat. You can attach photos, documents (e.g. medical reports as PDF), videos and voice messages, also simply by Drag & Drop. As soon as an answer is available, you are notified by email; the email itself contains no content.
- Files – all photos, videos, documents and voice messages in one place, including those from the chat, with a filter. Only you and the practice can see them.
- Documents for your appointment – information sheets and questionnaires that I provide depending on the type of your appointment. You can save questionnaires as a draft and change them until your appointment; your answers are transmitted in encrypted form.
- My details – your concern, pre-existing conditions, medications, allergies, previous operations. All fields are voluntary and can be changed at any time.
- Your appointments – all booked appointments with their status at a glance, with an email reminder one day before if you wish. You can still book appointments without a patient area at all.
- My account – change your contact details and password, choose notifications and language, add a companion (e.g. to collect you after a procedure), view active sessions and your login history.
- My data & rights – an overview of all stored data, access log, download of all data including files, deletion with one click.
Voluntary – and in your hands
The patient area is an offer, not an obligation. You set it up yourself under “My account”, and only if you give your explicit consent. Without this consent, nothing is stored. You can withdraw your consent at any time and delete the area with all its contents. Your account for booking appointments remains unaffected. You decide separately whether the practice may transfer content from your patient area to its practice management system – this, too, is voluntary and can be changed at any time.
How we protect your data
Health data is among the most sensitive data of all. That is why we designed the patient area with data protection in mind from the very beginning:
- Encrypted transmission – the website can only be accessed via HTTPS.
- Encrypted storage – details, messages, files, questionnaire answers and descriptions are each stored in encrypted form (XChaCha20-Poly1305 method). Each patient area has its own key; this key is in turn protected by a master key that is kept separately from the database.
- Photos without traces – when uploading, embedded information such as the location where the photo was taken (GPS) and the device is removed. For videos and documents, any information they contain is retained – we point this out when you upload them. No file can be accessed via a public address.
- Add extra security to your login – optionally with two-factor login via an authenticator app (e.g. Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator). Under “My account” you can see which devices you are logged in on and log out everywhere else.
- Only those who need it – the contents can be viewed exclusively by me and by practice staff authorized by me. No disclosure to third parties, no analysis by artificial intelligence, no advertising.
- Servers in the European Union – operated by our technical service provider under a data processing agreement.
- Full transparency – every access by the practice to your area is logged, and you can see this log yourself.
- Your rights implemented directly – you can exercise access (Art. 15 GDPR (DSGVO)), a copy of your data for download (Art. 15(3) and Art. 20), rectification (Art. 16), restriction (Art. 18), withdrawal and erasure (Art. 7(3), Art. 17) yourself and immediately.
- Storage limitation – if a patient area is not used for 24 months, it is deleted automatically.
You can find all details in the privacy information on the patient area.
What the patient area is not
For me, honesty is part of it: the patient area does not replace a personal consultation or an examination. A diagnosis or treatment recommendation is only possible after a personal examination. And it is not intended for emergencies. If you experience problems after an operation, please call the practice – in an emergency, call 112.
How to get started
- Create account – if you do not have one yet.
- Activate the patient area under “My account” and give your consent.
- Use what you need – for example, start by completing your details.
Find out more on the patient area page. I would be pleased if this offer makes the path a little easier for you.
Yours, Dr. med. Hans-Hermann Wörl
