AOK digital file: “No isolated solution”

10.10.2017 19:05

With two pilots in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, after 16 months of preparation, the AOK is launching its digital health network for data exchange between patients, general practitioners and clinics. The network offers a digital file with which medical information and documents can be made available and accessed at any time. This cross-sector exchange is intended to support optimal treatment of patients and lead to greater patient safety.

According to the AOK, the pilot in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will start at the beginning of November with two clinics, the “HaffNet” medical network and with the support of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians. Four applications are initially available to around 8,000 AOK insured people in the health network: admission and discharge management in the participating clinics, the exchange of documents between clinics and practicing doctors, the option of uploading your own medical documents such as organ donor cards or maternity records, and the option to do so yourself to incorporate collected vital data and measurements into your own file.

The next step will follow at the turn of the year: Together with the third largest private hospital group Sana Kliniken AG and Germany's largest municipal hospital group Vivantes, the AOK health network in Berlin will start the pilot phase. Nine clinics and 13 medical care centers from Vivantes as well as the Sana Clinic Lichtenberg are involved. Together they serve around 114,000 AOK insured people every year, who will be able to use the digital file in the future.

In addition to the applications already tested in the pilot, participating patients in Berlin will be offered a digital medication plan, the provision of laboratory data by the participating doctors and the opportunity to make appointments with clinics and doctors.

Networking with telematics infrastructure planned

“With digitalization, patients gain better insight into their health data. This will also put you in a position to have an even greater say in treatment options than before,” says Dr. Andrea Grebe, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Vivantes Network for Health GmbH.

When implementing its health network, the AOK “does not pursue a central approach like gematik,” emphasizes AOK boss Martin Litsch. “Depending on the regional situation, we will implement different applications with different partners.” But all of these solutions are “connectable,” says Litsch: “They can be networked under the roof of the health network and also docked to the telematics infrastructure. We are not developing an isolated solution, but rather want to be part of the entire digital network.”

Image source: AOK