Digitization in hospitals: not just an end in itself, but a transformer

The course urgently needs to be charted to make healthcare secure for the future. The Asklepios Trend Report, which was published for the first time this summer, highlights the key developments that will shape our healthcare system for the foreseeable future. Digitalization plays a key role in this as confirmed by a patient study also commissioned by the group.

In an interview with MEDICA-tradefair.com, Henning Schneider talks about the status of digitization in German hospitals, how we can drive it forward and which projects the Group has already implemented.

Mr. Schneider, digitization is a broad field. What does it entail for you for your hospitals' operations?

Henning Schneider: Personally, I am passionate about the topic of digitalization in the health sector as the concept of using technology in the right way to improve my everyday life or processes for patient treatment and the everyday life of doctors and nurses. This is how I understand IT and digitalization. It is, in fact, about a transformation of ways of working and an associated facilitation, but not about the unreflective use of technology.

We must move away from talking about a separate IT department that only provides software and infrastructure. Companies from other industries are already further ahead than the health sector. They are building matrix organizations in which most IT specialists no longer sit in IT departments but are integrated into the respective departments. Because digitalization means the use of these systems in everyday life, in a uniform and coordinated process. This is something we are still struggling with in the health sector.

How do you mean that?

Schneider: I have been in the health sector for 20 years. There are numerous examples that have already proven that digitalization improves people's healthcare. But especially in such an important area as patient treatment, many processes are still implemented manually in hospitals. That is time-consuming and prone to errors.

I firmly believe that in large hospitals where work is paper-based, a large number of medication errors occur every day. These may not always be serious errors, but they are unnecessary risks that, in the worst case, can also cause damage to health. Creating transparency and quality here by means of digitalization is an example of the true benefit of digitalization for hospitals.

How far has digitization progressed overall in German hospitals?

Schneider: In Germany, digitalization in hospitals has so far mainly been used to document services rendered so that billing works. I estimate that 80 to 90 percent of hospitals still do not have electronic, structured documentation of the treatment process that also allows monitoring or control. Yet we have the same studies on deaths and risks due to incorrect medication as in the USA, where this fact led to an initial spark in digitalization.

So there is a need to catch up?

Schneider: There certainly is. That is the signal that Asklepios wants to give with "Digital HealthyNear", among other things. With this strategic approach, Asklepios is deliberately integrating applications such as digital tele-rehab aftercare into the treatment process for patients. We want to be a digital healthcare provider and, with our 170 locations spread across Germany, always be and remain close to people.

What can this look like in detail?

Schneider: It could look like networking the medical care centers and hospitals with each other at all locations. In order to counteract the shortage of specialists, we must begin to coordinate patient treatment much better among ourselves. We want to make the expertise of our specialists available to patients at other locations via telemedicine. These are new approaches that will only work with digital solutions and uniform, coordinated care processes.

Is there a - digital - success story for this?

Schneider: The best example with a role model function for the entire health care system is the Asklepios Tumor Center Hamburg, where specialists for tumor diseases work who are among the best in Germany. Thanks to digital networking of various clinics and medical services, patients with whom we are digitally connected receive the same quality of medical services as if they were at the Hamburg Tumor Center themselves.

Doctors from seven maximum care providers are currently cooperating here. Patients are presented in a digital tumor conference in which the doctors decide together how they can best treat him or her. We would like to expand this digital network to our clinics throughout the country. That way, people no longer have to watch how to get to the right specialists. And they are not solely dependent on local doctors who are, of course, qualified, but perhaps not for this particular tumor disease.

Where do the hurdles of digitalization lie for Asklepios?

Schneider: First and foremost, the fact that digitization in the healthcare system is not sufficiently promoted. For the small amount of funding, there are high bureaucratic hurdles and long approval times of several years before you can start with projects. There is also still a lack of universal solutions on how such networking can work. Therefore, most things still have to be developed from scratch.

There is a lack of data protection concepts and, above all, communication standards to ensure data exchange for the best patient treatment. Contrary to the health systems of our neighboring countries, any digital exchange of treatment data still ends at the walls of doctors' surgeries and hospitals.

But you have already implemented quite a few things as a group ...

Schneider: Above all, we have harmonized and standardized the individual IT systems of our hospitals on a uniform platform. The admission process at Asklepios is synchronized, the documentation processes are synchronized, the same applies to administrative processes - financial accounting, logistics, purchasing, and so on. This allows us to exchange and use data with each other much better.

Are there other examples?

Schneider: Yes, the "Futurelab" project, in which autonomous laboratory robots are currently supporting the specialist staff with laboratory services in two of our hospitals. They guarantee fast, reliable analyses on a piecework basis, especially during off-peak and night-time hours. The examination result is transmitted directly to the hospital information system - where doctors have the last look at it. This means an increase in the quality of treatment and a relief for the staff. It is a success story that is to be continued in other hospitals.