KV-Connect to be Discontinued and Migrated to KIM: New Standard for Medical Interoperability

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The German Medical Association (KBV) is urging software manufacturers, regional medical associations (KVen), and data receiving facilities to promptly decommission all remaining applications of the communication platform KV-Connect and fully migrate them to its successor standard, KIM. Although KV-Connect has been operated for over ten years, the service will be permanently shut down on October 20, 2025. According to KBV, major technically migratable applications (e.g., 1ClickAbrechnung, eDMP, eHKS, QSPB, eDokumentation, eArztbrief, eNachricht) have already been successfully transitioned to KIM. This transition is necessary because KIM has established itself as the standard for secure communication in healthcare, making parallel operation with KV-Connect unnecessary. Furthermore, new FHIR-based interfaces are available for the 116117 appointment service starting in 2025, replacing previous KV-Connect interfaces for billing information and referral codes. These new interfaces have been operational since April 1, 2025. Currently, a large proportion of KVen are accepting billing via KIM, and data receiving facilities for eDMP have begun participating, with more planning to accept eDMP via KIM in the second quarter.