Yes, it is. HIPAA doesn't apply to Germany though, unfortunately. Despite its reputation for privacy Germany's healthcare regulations are severely lacking in that respect.
Implementing a more stable - and legal - system for exchanging medical data is next to impossible because there's a bunch of stakeholders who actively undermine what's in the interest of the patients for their own good.
So, for the time being, transmitting patient data via WhatsApp and the likes unfortunately - and quite bizarrely - probably is the only option to act in the patient's interest. Besides, the regulators won't notice anyway because for them the Internet still is some passing fad.
Implementing a more stable - and legal - system for exchanging medical data is next to impossible because there's a bunch of stakeholders who actively undermine what's in the interest of the patients for their own good.
So, for the time being, transmitting patient data via WhatsApp and the likes unfortunately - and quite bizarrely - probably is the only option to act in the patient's interest. Besides, the regulators won't notice anyway because for them the Internet still is some passing fad.