Digitalization is intended to simplify data-sovereign healthcare
18.07.2022 11:09
Diagnoses, findings, treatment documentation, doctor’s letters, X-rays: These data are usually stored in different places. For patients, accessing and managing their complete records often means a lot of effort. A digital application should change that and bring information together digitally so that patients can manage their data and confidently decide whether to pass it on. The application is also intended to improve direct exchange with doctors and other healthcare providers, such as nursing services. The Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) and the Erlangen University Hospital are currently working on the development of such a concept, including in the area of women's health.
As part of the funding competition “Innovative and practical applications and data rooms in the digital ecosystem GAIA-X” of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, FAU and the Erlangen University Hospital, together with nine other partners, successfully applied for consortium funding. The consortium, which consists of eleven partners and is led by Bayern Innovativ and is called TEAM-X (Trusted Ecosystem of Applied Medical Data eXchange), aims to promote the self-determination of those affected in the handling of their medical data and at the same time to increase the digital competence and innovative strength of the health and Strengthen the care industry. The funding period for TEAM-X is three years. The project work at the Erlangen University Hospital is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection with 2.6 million euros or 1.7 million euros (FAU).
The current situation: Patient data is stored in many different software systems at the Erlangen University Hospital. If patients seek treatment outside of the university hospital, additional storage locations are added. This is a confusing situation for everyone affected and not very transparent. When you change your place of residence, the exchange of information becomes even more complicated.
“To further strengthen breast cancer care, we would like to enable patients to confidently manage their health data from both inpatient and outpatient care and to further improve the direct interaction between patients and the various players in multiprofessional care,” explains PD Dr. Sebastian Bickelhaupt, coordinator for the TEAM-X project at the Erlangen University Hospital. This is intended to make it easier to handle your own health data in a data-sovereign manner and to facilitate further treatment, follow-up care or any care.
The basis for the development of this digital application will be the use case in the field of medicine - women's health (women's clinic, Prof. Dr. Peter A. Fasching and director Prof. Dr. Matthias W. Beckmann) and palliative medicine (palliative medicine department, head Prof. Dr. Christoph Ostgathe) with integrative interconnection and collaboration with the data integration center (Medical Center for Information and Communication Technology, Dr. Detlef Kraska) and the Radiological Institute (Director Prof. Dr. Michael Uder) of the Erlangen University Hospital.
But before such a digital application can be developed, a feasibility study must be carried out to clarify the ethical, legal and social implications, as well as what is technically possible. Above all, the acceptance of such an app should be determined, according to the spokesman for the TEAM-X consortium, Prof. Dr. Bjoern Eskofier from FAU's MAD Lab: “We are pleased that we were able to form a strong interdisciplinary team of researchers with the University Hospital and FAU to work with our partners to investigate new digital technologies in medical and nursing care and to use our expertise in to be able to bring in the consortium.”
The technology is not only intended to improve transparency and self-determination for patients. This is also intended to support the sovereign decision of patients about making their own health data available for research at the university and the university hospital. The communication and transmission of health data, for example from personalized diagnostics, should also be made possible between patients and those involved in healthcare using (wearable) sensors.
The eleven partners working together on the TEAM-X project are: Bayern Innovativ – Bavarian Society for Innovation and Knowledge Transfer mbH, C&S Computer and Software GmbH, ecsec GmbH, Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research e. V. – Fraunhofer IIS, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (participating chairs FAPS, MAD, STR3), Identity Valley Research gUG, NeuroSys GmbH, ProCarement GmbH, Refinio GmbH, Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen University Hospital (women's clinic, palliative medicine department, Medical Center for Information and Communication Technology and Radiological Institute). The Parmenides Foundation, the Medical Valley EMN e. V. and the Bad Aussee communications house are there.