DDG advocates the use of data in accordance with evidence, ethics and medical standards

09.11.2023 14:09

So far, there is little going digital in the healthcare sector. The road is particularly bumpy when it comes to electronic patient records (ePA): less than one percent of patients use an ePA - be it because the information is incomplete or because registration and use are too complicated for them. In addition, the design and the topic of data protection have been criticized. However, there are potential benefits and opportunities from these and other elements of the digitalization strategy that could improve the efficiency, quality, safety and accessibility of healthcare.

In addition, the exchange of relevant patient data between medical practices, clinics, pharmacies and scientific institutions is also essential for use in research. Experts from the specialist society are closely following the Federal Government's advice on “digitalization in the healthcare system” and are providing an ethical and evidence-based framework for action with the updated Digitalization Code.

Since January 1, 2021, everyone with statutory health insurance can receive an electronic patient file (ePA) from their health insurance company. But so far only very few people have used this offer. An ePA has advantages, especially for people with diabetes: If you change doctors, are referred to a clinic or even in an emergency, all the necessary data, including the medication plan, is immediately available. “This saves valuable resources for double anamnesis and diagnostics and gives us more treatment time for patients,” says Dr. med. Tobias Wiesner, board member of the DDG and practicing diabetologist in Leipzig. “This contributes significantly to patient safety as the medical staff can concentrate more on holistic and individual treatment.”

Digital transformation is an opportunity for healthcare

The “Law for better care through digitalization and innovation” (Digital Care Act – DVG) brings with it an important aspect of digitalization and opens up new perspectives for care: “Practice doctors can prescribe important health applications on prescription, video consultations for their “We offer them to patients and also point this out on their website,” says Wiesner. Paper and fax could then also be a thing of the past: “In addition to the electronic certificate of incapacity for work and the e-prescription, we can also prescribe medicines and aids or home nursing care electronically.” This will make the time-consuming but important documentation easier - another point for the expert , from which individual care will benefit significantly.

Digital treasures for pioneering medical research

However, the prerequisite for this is secure networking of medical care via the telematics infrastructure. “But there is still a lack of interoperability in some places,” says Professor Dr. med. Baptist Gallwitz, media spokesman for the DDG. He reports that software and hardware in doctors' practices and hospitals are currently mostly implemented in isolated ways and the data exchange between the individual systems does not work. “Working on this is one of the most important tasks in the digitalization process. If the interfaces are created for this, not only care but also science will benefit enormously. For medical progress, large amounts of data are needed in research.” The expert is therefore eagerly following the first consultation on the new Health Data Use Act (GDNG). It stipulates that anonymized and pseudonymized data can be made available to large research data centers upon request.

DDG sets a framework for digitalization with its code

In order to accompany the digital transformation process, the DDG has been working continuously on a digitalization code since 2017. “Clear guidelines are needed to ensure that communication and interaction processes optimize patient care and research and do not come at the expense of the individual,” says Professor Dr. med. Dirk Müller-Wieland, Chairman of the DDG Digitalization Commission. With the “DDG Digitalization Code,” which was newly updated in 2023, the specialist society is creating a necessary basis for this. “Medical standards and data protection are basic requirements for the transformation process of digitalization that is currently progressing in medicine,” says Müller-Wieland. “In every aspect of the digitalization strategy, the patient perspective must be systematically integrated and the concerns of medical professionals must be taken into account.” This is the only way to ensure a functioning process between everyone involved and those affected.

DDG code for digitalization: https://www.ddg.info/die-ddg/kommissionen/digitalisierung