The digitization of care: Key to greater transparency and efficiency

The opta data Gruppe recently became a majority stakeholder in HyCARE GmbH. What prompted you to take this step and what are your plans for HyCARE GmbH?

Andreas Fischer: The acquisition of HyCARE GmbH enables us to combine valuable know-how, especially as it pertains to the care sector. The wider range of products benefits our customers, while we obtain highly qualified colleagues who are a perfect fit for our company’s values and overall business strategy. Together we will expand and modernize care facility services and work on joint solutions. Of course, the HyCARE GmbH in Berlin will continue to exist.

Let’s talk about the telematics infrastructure: Where is it already successful and which areas need improvement?

Mark Steinbach: As a digital information highway that connects all healthcare stakeholders, the telematics infrastructure (TI) builds the foundation for a secure electronic health information exchange among all participants. The opta data Group already connected nearly 70,000 contracted physicians, dentists, and psychotherapists to the new technology with hospitals and pharmacies soon to follow. We are unable to connect some areas since key authentication factors such as the security module card Type B (SMC-B) identification and the electronic Health Professional ID card (eHBA) cannot be issued to other care providers at this juncture.

What are the technical challenges in digital healthcare adoption?

Steinbach: To create a network structure, you must connect as many healthcare stakeholders as possible. However, many healthcare professionals provide their services outside the office and need mobile solutions that don’t exist yet. There is still no authorized solution for mobile access to the telematics infrastructure. This is an area where we are closely collaborating with our partners to come up with technical options.

In what way are the legal situation or bureaucracy barriers to comprehensive digitization?

Fischer: We realized that the current legislative session is very keen to advance digitization. From our point of view, it’s actually the federal states that are presently more of a hindrance when it comes to the introduction of the telematics infrastructure.

After all, digitization also means overcoming disconnects on the path to digital transformation, and integrating or simplifying processes. For example, we need to adopt a treaty between the federal states to set up a nationwide electronic health professions register (eGBR). This, in turn, is required to issue an electronic Health Professional ID card. We are certain that things will ultimately work out, but federalism makes this process far more complicated.

Analog patient records and prescriptions have been successful tools for decades. Do we really need innovations such as electronic prescriptions or electronic health records?

Steinbach: The electronic health record is a key component of the digitization of healthcare in Germany because it contains all key administrative clinical data. This includes all the medications that the patient is taking, prior findings and illnesses, blood test results, and the patient’s medical history. It prevents duplication in therapy, reduces bureaucracy, and saves time and money. The benefit of the electronic health record is that the patient alone can decide what information the record contains and who may access this data.

What opportunities does digitization offer the healthcare sector?

Fischer: Digitization adds value to healthcare in many European countries. For companies, digitization considerably eases the burden on the medical staff, which is a key factor, especially since the sector faces a shortage of skilled healthcare workers. It also provides greater transparency and efficiency to patients and speeds up treatment. New tools such as the use of telemedicine or video consultations between patients and physicians can streamline processes, save time and money, and benefit patients and care providers.