In the course of the Corona crisis, it became obvious: In the medical and healthcare industry and the authorities, little goes digital and even sensible ideas are implemented only extremely sluggishly, if at all. The fax machine still handles data transmission, and patient records and X-rays are physically sent.
In addition to the complex responsibilities in Germany with 17 state data protection commissioners, various authorities and institutes in the healthcare sector, diverse health insurance companies and billing systems, and a lack of standards in data collection, storage and transmission, as well as the seemingly all-dominant overriding issue of data protection, the mentality is characterized by concerns instead of “anything goes”.
It feels like Germany is in last place in the world when it comes to implementing digitization, and even in year three of the Corona crisis, little seems to be happening in the direction of efficiency and a digital future.
Medical technology is one of the most important and largest industrial sectors in Germany, and various software providers have also specialized in “digital health”. “BioTech” is on everyone’s lips, but seemingly difficult to reconcile with data protection and digital patient data. Startups in this field migrate abruptly abroad when successful.
Politicians have recognized that there is an urgent need for action here. The coalition agreement of the coalition government stipulates that telemedicine, digital patient files and e-prescription are to be advanced. However, no concrete steps to this end have yet been identified.
In 2021, a study by the E-Health-Com platform found that 61% of patients who received exams and care via telemedicine had successful treatment. However, so far, even in the Corona crisis, only 17% of patients are using telemedicine. 91% of users plan to continue using telemedicine in the future, but would like to access physicians with a good rating or their local primary care physician who does not yet offer telemedicine.
