The Crisis as an Opportunity: The COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights the Need for a Consistent Digitalization of Healthcare

Representatives from social self-government and service providers, politics and research, industry associations, and startups discussed under the guiding motto "The Crisis as an Opportunity: Sustainable Digitalization in the Healthcare System." Around 600 interested participants followed the live-streamed event from the Federal Press Conference House. In light of Germany's EU Council Presidency, the event organizers GVG and TMF paid special attention to the European level this year. Speakers from Sweden and Israel, among others, offered an international perspective. This year, for the first time, the event's cooperation partner was the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV).

The possibilities offered by digitalization continue to increase exponentially. Without utilizing the many digital options, Germany would not have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic as well. "But it is also clear that there is still more to be done," said Gundula Roßbach, chairwoman of the GVG and president of the German Pension Insurance Federation. When it comes to healthcare, a high value must be prioritized. Digitalization must provide "more" health. "To achieve this, the process must be jointly designed with all involved stakeholders," Roßbach continued. 

"In the Corona pandemic, decisions about thousands of lives and hundreds of thousands of livelihoods had to be made based on inadequate and often completely missing data. This results in the mandate to harness the opportunities of digitalization for a faster and more comprehensive exchange of medical data to better manage this and future crises," summarized Prof. Dr. Michael Krawczak, CEO of the TMF, at the National Digital Health Symposium. Prof. Krawczak also referred to the Corona pandemic as a "Missing Data" crisis in his greeting.

On the Way to the European Health Data Space: Facing Pandemics with Connected Exchange

Pandemics do not stop at national borders. Therefore, it is important to create the conditions for researchers to collaborate across Europe or even globally and exchange data quickly and reliably. Through the introduction of the electronic patient record in Germany, which is being gradually expanded to be compatible with research, the health of citizens will be strengthened, said Dr. Markus Leyck Dieken, managing director of gematik. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased citizens' trust in the digitalization of health data, which will provide a significant boost to the implementation of a European Health Data Space. However, there are still obstacles to overcome in data interoperability and a clear understanding of how to handle health data, for example, in terms of privacy, data ethics, and data security.

COVID-19 as an Accelerator for the Exchange of Digital Health Data?

Whether the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the exchange of digital health data, Dr. Andreas Gassen, CEO of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, was cautious. The question is whether the introduction of digital applications under pandemic conditions can truly succeed. Only once they are fully developed can they be of practical use to doctors and other users. It still takes too much time for this to happen.

Projects such as the "Electronic Patient Record" were mainly viewed by the discussion participants as "the first step." It is essential to convince the largely skeptical German population about the goals and purpose of digital applications and data submission. This can only be achieved through maximum transparency, said Prof. Dr. Roland Eils from the Berlin Institute of Health.

As a catalyst and innovator for standardization in healthcare, the TMF Managing Director Sebastian C. Semler sees particularly medical research as one of the most important data users.

Dr. Bodo Liecker, chairman of the GVG Workgroup on Digitalization and eHealth, emphasized that artificial intelligence, which serves diagnostic purposes, must prove its patient-relevant benefits. The decision-making authority in healthcare matters must remain with patients and their healthcare providers.

Better Involvement of Patients

Involving citizens is essential to build the necessary trust in cross-border data exchange for the secondary use of health data for research purposes. The consent of patients is a prerequisite for using medical data in research. With broad consent based on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Germany is now a leader in the issue of consent, thanks to the Medical Informatics Initiative, said Prof. Dr. Dr. Daniel Strech from the Berlin Institute of Health.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Prainsack from the University of Vienna emphasized that both the advantages and disadvantages of data usage must be communicated openly and honestly at all times to maintain public trust. The pandemic has made it clear that not only technical interoperability is important, but also "social interoperability."

European Perspective: Lessons Learned from COVID-19

Experts from Sweden and Israel offered an international perspective. The experiences and initial conclusions from the COVID-19 pandemic are similar to those of German experts. The best digital health applications are only effective if people trust their security, said Annemieke Ålenius from the Swedish eHealth Agency. It is necessary to maintain a dialogue with patients and medical professionals to educate them about the benefits of data storage. Ofir Marer, from Israel's Ministry of Health, concluded: "Learn from the crisis, adjust strategies, take action." 

The organizers will soon make a detailed follow-up report on the National Digital Health Symposium 2020 available online.

Contacts:

Wiebke Lesch, Phone: 030 22 00 24 731, E-mail: presse@tmf-ev.de
Joachim Nöhre, Phone: 030 8561123-32, E-mail: j.noehre@gvg.org

About the GVG:

The Gesellschaft für Versicherungswissenschaft und -gestaltung (GVG), Society for Insurance Science and Design, represents the social security system in Germany. Since its founding in 1947, the GVG has been the central forum for the ongoing development of social security in theory and practice. Key areas of work include the development of consensus positions on current developments, important reform issues, and future challenges. Nearly all relevant institutions in the field of social security are organized within GVG.