Digitalization in healthcare: The transformation to the status quo

The German healthcare industry is currently being massively turned upside down. Digital technologies are being established using modern communication and information technologies to enable greater efficiency for patients, doctors and insurance companies. Communication is made easier. At the same time, transparency for patients is significantly increased. Ordinary people have to deal with things like electronic health records (ePA) or virtual doctor appointments. What is behind these terms? How did the change take place? And what does the status quo look like? We'll explain.

Digitalization in healthcare — what does that mean?

Digitalization in healthcare fundamentally describes the shift away from analog processes towards digitization. Examples include electronic medical records, video consultations with the doctor, measurement of health data via app or communication between doctors and the hospital via a virtual platform. The medical data of the individual insured person form the basis. These are accessed by means of modern communication and information technologies between patients, doctors and various service providers.

What has been implemented so far

Compared to other countries, Germany is far behind when it comes to digitization in healthcare. Many technologies have already been established in neighboring countries for several years. However, a large part of the German population does not see this as necessary. This shows a Study by PWC from 2018 on. A decisive fact that has blocked development for a long time. Since January 2021, citizens who are legally insured have been able to use the electronic health record (ePA).

The individual technologies

telemedicine

Telemedicine enables virtual consultation and diagnostics with a doctor via video call. The aim is to relieve medical practices and save enormous amounts of time for everyone involved. Telemedicine therefore has an enormous advantage, especially for people from rural areas. They are spared the long journey to the doctor. Important factors include the technology that must work (with a good Internet connection) and data protection. Many people still have concerns about complying with it, such as 76% of respondents to PwC study specify.

big data

The increase in available patient data associated with digitization is being used to identify potential illnesses due to pre-existing conditions or unusual patterns at an early stage. The volumes of data will be a great opportunity for solving societal problems if they are used for research. In concrete terms, this can Healthcare analytics systems, which analyze and evaluate huge amounts of medical data in real time. “People with the same disease sometimes react very differently to the same treatment method. With increasing knowledge of patients' individual differences, targeted and effective treatment strategies are therefore possible while avoiding stressful side effects,” says Dr. Christian Regenbrecht, head of the Tumor Stem Cell Group at the Institute of Pathology at Charité Berlin.

artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is closely related to the area big data connected. With the help of this technology, it will be possible to identify various patterns in health data. Diseases can be identified earlier and patients have the opportunity to receive more attentive care. At the same time, the system will reduce costs within the healthcare system enormously. In the fight and prevention of childhood obesity alone, the use of artificial intelligence should be used worldwide 90 billion dollars save.

e-Health

Under e-Health includes all technologies that use digital communication and information applications for the medical sector. One example is the electronic health record (ePA), which 9 out of 10 patients do not yet know how it works (Datapuls, 2021). Felix Schönfelder, managing director of Socialwave and initiator of the “Datapuls” survey: “We were surprised that public discourse about the benefits and concerns of the EPA is apparently only being followed by a small part of the population. One of the biggest milestones in the digitalization of healthcare must therefore not only overcome a technical hurdle, but above all a communicative one.” The following example illustrates how important such a file is, to which treating doctors have access: In the event of a possible admission to a hospital, the attending physician can immediately identify which physical ailments or allergies are present, which facilitates optimally tailored immediate treatment and can save lives in individual cases.

robotics

In the future, robot-based systems will play valuable assistive roles in nursing and during surgery. Here, too, almost two thirds of the population are somewhat skeptical about their trust in robots.

Digitalization in Germany: A glimpse into the future

2021 is a revolutionary year in terms of digitization in healthcare. The final introduction of electronic health records (ePA) alone shows this: In addition to its advantages, digitization in the German healthcare system is urgently needed, above all because the system could face serious problems in the future due to the shortage of skilled workers. As early as 2012, a study showed that we could lack around 630,000 skilled workers in the care and health sector in 2030. It is therefore important that Germany retrofits with regard to digitization in order to counteract this possible scenario. In addition, the demographic change in society speaks for a rapid expansion of digitization. This is the only way to create resources: Simplified telemedicine processes give doctors more time for patients. Robotics support people in need of care and specialists in the operating room. And the big data-Quantities of artificial intelligence detect diseases at an early stage. One aspect must always be considered in this regard: personal contact with the doctor.

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