Your health professional card signs: what doctors can sign from the phone with the eHBA
Every doctor, dentist, pharmacist and psychotherapist in Germany with an electronic health professional card (eHBA) holds a qualified signature card. Most use it only in the practice software for e-prescriptions and sick notes. Yet the qualified electronic signature (QES) on the card is equal to a handwritten signature – for court expert reports, contracts and medical reports, across the EU. This article shows what you can sign with it, what stays in the practice software, and how to sign with the eHBA G2.1 directly on an Android phone.
Your eHBA is a qualified signature card
The eHBA is issued by your chamber through a qualified trust service provider. Besides the visible ID it carries certificates for authentication, encryption and – most important – the qualified electronic signature. You set its signature PIN yourself when you activate the card.
Under the EU eIDAS Regulation (Art. 25(2)) a qualified electronic signature has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature. The Bundesärztekammer stresses that the eHBA signature can also be used outside the health sector and in other EU countries. The generation G2.1 card has a contactless interface: with the card access number (CAN) printed on the front, a phone can talk to it over NFC.
Inside the practice: what stays with the practice software
The legislator requires the QES of the eHBA for the applications of the telematics infrastructure (TI): e-prescription, electronic sick note (eAU), eArztbrief (whose reimbursement depends on it), emergency data and medication plan, teleradiology orders and findings, lab form 10 and, for some KVs and private billing offices, the quarterly billing declaration.
These workflows run through your practice software, the connector and the card terminal – and they stay there. CodeB Wallet does not connect to the TI and does not replace your practice equipment. It covers what happens outside of it.
Outside the practice software: what you can sign from the phone
Court expert reports. Expert reports for civil, social and administrative courts may be submitted electronically (§ 130a ZPO, § 65a SGG, § 55a VwGO). The PDF needs the qualified signature of the responsible person – your eHBA – and is then sent over a permitted route, for example EGVP. A plain e-mail is not enough.
Contracts. The Bundesärztekammer: with the eHBA you can conclude any legally valid contract. Where the law requires written form, the qualified signature replaces it (§ 126a BGB) – for practice purchase and partnership agreements, cooperation and lease contracts, employment contracts or consultant agreements. Some declarations exclude the electronic form, for example the termination of an employment contract (§ 623 BGB).
Medical reports and certificates. Reports for insurers, authorities, employers' liability insurance associations or patients, medical certificates and findings as PDF – signed in a verifiable way. Whether a recipient accepts an electronically signed document depends on that recipient; ask when in doubt.
Across the EU. The same signature counts as qualified in every EU Member State – useful for cross-border consultations, reports and contracts.
Use case: the expert report signed on the way
Example scenario. A specialist in orthopaedics writes an expert report for a social court. The final version is ready on Friday evening; the deadline is Monday. Her practice is closed, the card terminal is at the practice.
She opens the PDF on her Android phone, chooses Sign it myself, places her visible signature under the report, enters the card access number of her eHBA, holds the card to the back of the phone and enters her signature PIN. The PDF now carries her qualified signature with a trusted timestamp. She submits it over the court's permitted electronic route – without a card reader, without the practice.
What CodeB Wallet does
Your phone is the card reader. CodeB Wallet reads your eHBA G2.1 over NFC: enter the 6-digit card access number (CAN), hold the card to the phone, enter the signature PIN (PIN.QES). The card creates the signature; the key never leaves the chip.
Any PDF, a qualified signature. PAdES signature with a trusted timestamp; place your visible signature where it belongs. After signing, the app shows that the certificate states a qualified electronic signature.
Confidential. Patient data stays on the phone: the document never leaves it – only a fingerprint (hash) is sent for the timestamp.
Signing requests. Partners of a group practice sign a contract one after the other, each with their own eHBA, with a signature box per person.
Check it yourself: upload the signed PDF to the European Commission's DSS validation tool. CodeB Wallet itself is not certified; the qualified status comes from the certificate on your card. The electronic health card (eGK) of patients signs only with an advanced signature, never a qualified one.
How to start
- Request access: send us the e-mail address of the Google account you use in the Play Store on your Android phone – via Join. We unlock the address.
- Install CodeB Wallet from Google Play.
- Share a PDF to CodeB Wallet, choose Sign it myself, enter the card access number (CAN) of your eHBA, hold the card to the phone and enter your signature PIN.
Sources
Bundesärztekammer: eHBA FAQ · D-Trust: eHBA product sheet · § 130a ZPO · § 65a SGG · § 126a BGB · § 623 BGB · eIDAS Regulation · EU DSS validation tool
Questions about signing with the eHBA
Is the signature of the eHBA a qualified electronic signature?
Yes. The eHBA carries a qualified certificate for electronic signatures. A signature made with it is a qualified electronic signature under eIDAS, with the same legal effect as a handwritten signature.
Can I use the eHBA signature outside the TI?
Yes. According to the Bundesärztekammer the eHBA signature can be used outside the health sector – for contracts, court expert reports and other documents – and in other EU countries.
Can I submit a court expert report with the eHBA signature?
Yes. Under § 130a ZPO (and § 65a SGG, § 55a VwGO) an electronic document with the qualified signature of the responsible person may be submitted. It must be sent over a permitted route, for example EGVP; a plain e-mail is not enough.
Does the eHBA signature replace the written form for contracts?
Yes, as a rule: the electronic form with a qualified signature replaces the written form (§ 126a BGB). Exceptions apply where the law excludes the electronic form, for example the termination of an employment contract (§ 623 BGB).
Can I issue e-prescriptions or sick notes with CodeB Wallet?
No. E-prescriptions, eAU and eArztbrief run through the practice software, the connector and the telematics infrastructure. CodeB Wallet signs PDFs outside the TI.
Which cards and phones work?
The health professional card (eHBA) generation G2.1 with contactless interface and the card access number (CAN) printed on it, and an Android phone with NFC.
How do I prove the signature is valid?
Upload the signed PDF to the European Commission's DSS validation tool; its report shows the signature and certificate details.