Healthcare industry

Identification of contacts is one of the most important measures to mitigate the spread of the Corona virus. Tracing apps are to help. Technical implementation, however, is associated with the risk of data misuse and the approaches presented so far do not sufficiently protect privacy. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and of the FZI Research Center for Information Technology have now proposed an app that enhances privacy.

EIT Health has announced over €6m of funding in the fight against COVID-19. The funding will be dedicated to 14 specially selected health innovation projects across Europe which will focus on immediate and impactful solutions that can be found to arm health services with better tools in navigating the pandemic.

Article - 15/10/2019

docdirekt – a smart way to contact a doctor in Baden-Württemberg

You feel unwell, but the family doctor’s practice is closed or it’s impossible to get an appointment at short notice. As part of their docdirekt project, the Baden-Württemberg Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (in German: "Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung Baden-Württemberg (KVBW)) is now offering help for such cases. Everyone signed up to the statutory health insurance scheme will now be able to ring, contact via apps or…

Article - 18/03/2019

EHR and PHR: digital records in the German healthcare system

EHRs, i.e. electronic health records (German: Patientenakte, ePA), are hailed as the key to increasing the quality of care. The Appointment Service and Supply Act (TSVG), adopted on 14th March 2019, requires the German statutory health insurance funds to provide policyholders with electronic health records from 1st January 2021 onwards.

Company profile - 19/12/2018

With DiHeSys into integrated digital healthcare

The founders and partners of DiHeSys have big ambitions: "We have to build a complete ecosystem around the patient," says Dr. Markus Dachtler, managing director of DiHeSys. The company develops products and services for an industry in transition, provides answers to trends such as personalized medicine, 2D- and 3D-printing technologies and platform technologies. The company’s motto: no isolated solutions, but a comprehensive range of…

Company profile - 26/07/2018

evid - therapy recommendations at a glance

There are over 700 treatment guidelines in Germany alone, and each is up to several hundred pages long. Can doctors still stay on top of things? A start-up company from Mannheim called evid is developing a software that can retrieve relevant therapy recommendations for individual patients from the huge pile of paperwork. In March 2018, the founding trio won first place of the eHealthForum Freiburg start-up competition.

Article - 13/06/2018

TeleDerm: Rapid help from a dermatologist via teleconsultation

Some geographical locations have relatively few specialist medical practices. Getting an appointment with a specialist if you live in such areas might mean a long wait or a long journey. A study being carried out at the University of Tübingen is looking to improve this situation: the TeleDerm project involves dermatologists using telemedicine to assess skin disorders from images taken by GPs.

Article - 06/06/2018

Robots for assisting with care and treatment in nursing homes and hospitals

Robotic systems have great potential in the healthcare sector. For example, intelligent care aids, such as robotic technologies, extended care trolleys and lifters make life easier for nursing home and hospital staff. Mobile robots that assist with transport tasks or guiding people can help patients become more independent.

Article - 16/05/2018

Telemedical neurology council helps speed up stroke treatment

Stroke units save lives because specialist treatment is absolutely crucial for stroke patients. However, not all clinics have neurological specialists available 24/7, so telemedicine provides a good solution to the problem. Studies show that telemedical consultations can considerably improve the treatment of stroke patients.

Dossier - 06/03/2018

Big data - the big promise of the new digitised world

Big data is a widely used buzzword in today's information era. The use of big data in the digital world presents both an opportunity and a risk. Mass data is now used and analysed in almost all areas of life. Even the healthcare sector is undergoing extensive digitisation.

Personalised Medicine - 04/05/2017

Big data make therapy work better

An international team of researchers has shown for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) that cancer therapy can be personalised using big data. The authors of the study “believe this paper is a step towards validation of genetic techniques as a route to personalised medicine”.

Article - 20/04/2017

Health app to be integrated into clinical trials

Questionnaires are a thing of the past, now it is becoming increasingly likely that information for clinical trials will be collected via apps in the future. A new research platform has been developed to prepare patient data transmitted via smartphone applications. Doctors who are carrying out research will thus have access to more accurate results that will also ultimately benefit patients.

Article - 31/03/2017

Bosch to enter the medical technology sector – start-up culture meets proven expertise

Many of us have known the Bosch Group mainly as a technology company that is active in the automotive sector. Now, the multinational company is opening up a whole new field of business and is entering the medical technology market with a new subsidiary. Bosch Healthcare Solutions GmbH, which is headquartered in the city of Waiblingen, has developed an innovative breath analysis device that allows asthmatics to measure the severity of airway…

Diagnosis - 13/02/2017

Idana: an anamnesis software that asks the right questions

Studies have shown that communication between doctors and patients is very important for doctors to be able to give a precise diagnosis and to increase patient acceptance of therapy. Unfortunately, doctors often do not have the time for in-depth conversations with their patients. A new anamnesis software called Idana looks set to change this situation. The software tailors questions specifically to individual patients and helps treating doctors…

Company profile - 18/07/2016

mbits imaging GmbH – mobile app in the field of radiology

Trying to get a second opinion from a medical colleague who is at home preparing dinner may be quite a challenge, especially when the colleague does not have access to the necessary image data. This has now become easier in the field of radiology thanks to a mobile app called mRay, which provides a reliable way for radiologists to share medical images on mobile devices.

eHealth - 21/03/2016

Bertelsmann Foundation report: digital health applications for public use

The impact of digital health applications on public health is not yet well documented despite the growing number of health apps on the market. In a report called “Digital-Health-Anwendungen für Bürger: Kontext, Typologie und Relevanz aus Public-Health-Perspektive”, the Bertelsmann Foundation has developed a classification system to facilitate further research and evaluation of digital health applications.

Article - 01/12/2015

Process optimisation in the operating theatre

Modern IT solutions and the digital networking of devices and work processes permeate many areas of life, and this does not stop at hospital gates. A cooperative project, InnOPlan, coordinated by KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG in Tuttlingen, is studying data-driven optimisation of processes in operating theatres.

Telemedicine - 19/10/2015

Medical apps – potential helpers for physicians and patients

Can smartphones become health counsellors for patients or diagnostic tools for doctors? The answer is yes, at least technically. However, health apps that comply with valid medical device regulations are still rather rare in Germany. Many health insurance companies are reluctant to pay for the use of these modern tools because the legal framework is inadequate and doctors are not yet fully capable of using them. Nevertheless, the use of such…

Telemedizin - 19/10/2015

SMARTY – a new way to treat and care for chronically ill children

Chronic and complex diseases in children are often a heavy burden on their families. Parents naturally want their children to have the latest treatment, and children are usually treated by several specialists. This makes it rather difficult, or, at the very least, involves considerable effort to keep everyone up to date. Dr. Joachim Riethmüller from the University Children’s Hospital in Tübingen and his team of doctors are using telemedicine in…

Medical technology is indispensible for human health and contributes a great deal to improving the quality of our lives. The field of medical technology covers many areas. These range from simple disposable products and consumables such as dressing materials and other clinical supplies, to IT-related telemedicine, homecare and eHealth systems as well as high-technology and innovative robotics, imaging, diagnostics and life-support systems. 838…

Dossier - 19/08/2013

Telemedicine: advances in high-tech healthcare

Increasing average longevity, the growing number of chronic diseases and health economy issues are all generating an ever-increasing demand for inexpensive therapy options that are not time- or location dependent. For the past 10 years or so, telemedicine has been offering advanced solutions for a broad range of medical and health issues. Despite this progress, the use of telecommunication and information technologies in the provision of remote…

Patients will often see several doctors. Computer scientists at the Centre for Information and Medical Technology at the University of Heidelberg are developing a new electronic patient file to enable the smooth transfer of patient data.

Among the 20 winners in the first round of the BMBF contest Health Regions of the Future were five concepts from Baden-Württemberg. In the coming nine months the chosen health regions will turn their concepts into full proposals.

Baden-Württemberg universities have adapted their healthcare training and education to different requirements and a number of different specialised courses are on offer.

The Heilbronn region has many years of experience with telematics projects. In October 2007 the region started a field test in which GPs and pharmacies were asked to test the functionality of the electronic health card in the region.