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The German healthcare system is an area of daily life that has barely been digitized to date. Neither are appointments available for booking online across the board, nor are health data shared between facilities and thus used efficiently. Yet, there is considerable potential in digitization here, as Dr. Sophie Chung, founder and CEO of Qunomedical, demonstrates in her expert contribution.
Online shopping, paying by mobile instead of cash or physical card, messaging apps, working from home – almost every aspect of our lives now has a digital component. We live in a digitized world, accustomed to the rapid and direct flow of information and the various advantages of digital services. Yet, there are still areas that have barely participated in the digital world.
The familiar ease of digital communication ends precisely when we are ill and lying in bed at home. For the contact with medical practices is still far too often only possible by telephone. Online appointment booking? No chance! Given the record numbers of sick days in Germany and the simultaneous shortage of doctors, this system reaches its limits all the more.
Everyone benefits from digitalization!
Instead of enabling potentially hundreds of appointment requests online simultaneously, the one-on-one telephone contact hinders quick and efficient patient care. According to a survey, more than two-thirds of Germans are therefore dissatisfied with appointment scheduling in the German healthcare system. The tragedy is that digital solutions are already available but have not yet been widely implemented. Meanwhile, awareness of the benefits and advantages of digitalization for patients, practices, and hospitals is present among most stakeholders.
The benefits are manifold: Not only do patients gain faster access to appointments with specialists through digital solutions. The seamless transmission of patient data is also possible, which is of great importance for the preparation or pre-qualification of more complex treatments. The central, institution-spanning availability of information and documents thus reduces the likelihood of misdiagnoses and treatment errors. Additionally, both patients and doctors can better prepare for and follow up on appointments with digital questionnaires. Hospitals and practices also benefit when they can digitally plan their capacity and procedures. This significantly increases the efficiency of processes and allows resources to be used more targeted. Ultimately, this also leads to lower costs for health insurance companies and providers. The goal is a completely digitalized patient journey that results in healthier and more satisfied patients. However, implementation has so far failed.
Digitalization is possible – other industries show the way
The existing system landscapes in the German healthcare sector resemble a patchwork of outdated infrastructures and devices. Software and hardware sometimes date back to the 1980s. Data transmission and the use of digital services already fail due to the lack of interoperability between different systems. Moreover, these systems often run on-premise. The advantages of the cloud remain untapped, and the necessary technical know-how, financial and personnel resources, as well as a straightforward innovative spirit, are lacking for a transition and the modernization of infrastructures overall. The strong data protection in Germany and Europe is also a challenge, but it is firstly urgently necessary given the sensitive information and secondly by no means an insurmountable obstacle.
Technical solutions for all these challenges are possible, as other highly regulated industries demonstrate. Data can be digitalized, interfaces between different systems developed, and common standards established. Take the banking and finance sector as an example. Here, the decision for digitalization was made years ago. Today, we all take online banking for granted, there is a Europe-wide uniform IBAN system, and data transmission occurs according to common data protection standards.
The prerequisites for successful digitalization are in place
Examples like this give hope that a system change towards digital, patient-centered care is also possible in the healthcare sector. The prerequisites are good. Diagnostic data is already standardized, even globally through the ICD classification. What is missing is a uniform categorization and labeling of data from medical findings such as MRI scans to enable system-wide assignment. Additionally, European and national data protection laws provide the legal framework for the processing and transmission of sensitive information. EU-wide GxP standards and guidelines ensure the integrity of IT systems used in healthcare, while regulations such as NIS2 provide rules for effective cybersecurity of critical infrastructures.
What is needed now is agreement among all stakeholders on a common strategy for the digitalization of the German healthcare system, as well as the political will to create appropriate frameworks for both public and private investments.
Then there is hope that in the coming years, a digital system can be established that is built around patients and puts their satisfaction at the center. This is important for all parties – happy patients, happy doctors. And only if we fully embrace digitalization can we address long-term challenges such as the shortage of skilled workers and simultaneously benefit from new technological opportunities such as the use of AI or the effective use of health data in research.
Source image: Adobe Stock/ sakon